Vodafone will sell its entire 44% shareholding in SFR to Vivendi for EUR 7.75 billion in cash (£6.8 billion). Vivendi already held 56% of SFR. Vodafone will also receive a final dividend from SFR of EUR 200m (£176m) on completion of the transaction. In addition, Vodafone and SFR will enter into a Partner Market agreement which will maintain their commercial co-operation.
Société Française du Radiotéléphone (SFR) is a leading mobile operator in France with about 21.3 million subscribers. Its 3G network covers 92% of the population in France. SFR also operates fixed and fibre-to-the-home network and systems and serves 4.9 million residential broadband customers. Its fiber network spans 57,000km. Annual turnover was EUR 12.6 billion in 2010.
Vodafone's shareholding in SFR contributed £573m to Vodafone's adjusted operating profit in the financial year to 31 March 2010, and £284m in the six months to 30 September 2010.
Vodafone said £4bn (EUR 4.5 billion) of the net proceeds will be returned to shareholders by way of a share buy-back with the remainder of the proceeds used to reduce the Group's net debt. The share buy-back will be carried out after the completion of the existing programme which is expected to be completed in June 2011.
Commenting on the transaction, Vittorio Colao, Chief Executive of Vodafone said:
"Our Board remains committed to realising maximum value from our non-controlled assets. The sale of our stake in SFR, at an attractive multiple, represents a significant further step in the execution of this strategy. In addition, we have secured a valuable partnership agreement in France which will allow us to continue to deliver compelling cross-border services to both consumer and enterprise customers across the major markets of western Europe."http://www.vivendi.com http://www.vodafone.com
Société Française du Radiotéléphone (SFR) is a leading mobile operator in France with about 21.3 million subscribers. Its 3G network covers 92% of the population in France. SFR also operates fixed and fibre-to-the-home network and systems and serves 4.9 million residential broadband customers. Its fiber network spans 57,000km. Annual turnover was EUR 12.6 billion in 2010.
Vodafone's shareholding in SFR contributed £573m to Vodafone's adjusted operating profit in the financial year to 31 March 2010, and £284m in the six months to 30 September 2010.
Vodafone said £4bn (EUR 4.5 billion) of the net proceeds will be returned to shareholders by way of a share buy-back with the remainder of the proceeds used to reduce the Group's net debt. The share buy-back will be carried out after the completion of the existing programme which is expected to be completed in June 2011.
Commenting on the transaction, Vittorio Colao, Chief Executive of Vodafone said:
"Our Board remains committed to realising maximum value from our non-controlled assets. The sale of our stake in SFR, at an attractive multiple, represents a significant further step in the execution of this strategy. In addition, we have secured a valuable partnership agreement in France which will allow us to continue to deliver compelling cross-border services to both consumer and enterprise customers across the major markets of western Europe."http://www.vivendi.com http://www.vodafone.com
- In December 2010, Nokia Siemens Networks announce that it had been chosen by SFR to build extra capacity in its existing 3G network. NSN will supply its LTE-ready Flexi Multiradio Base Station to support enhanced High Speed Packet Access (HSPA+) services. The contract also covers a range of software, network planning and optimization services. The companies have already hosted a live demonstration of Dual-cell HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) technology, which provides up to 42 Mbps download speeds, twice the current peak rate.
- Also in December 2010, FR has established its first 100 Gbps backbone line between Paris and Bordeaux using equipment from Ciena and Cisco. SFR also confirmed its first 42 Mbps HSPA+ connections on the 3G mobile network at a trial site in Lyon. The company also noted that customers in Paris, Lyon and Marseille can already enjoy mobile broadband at up to 21 Mbps with 300 sites connected to its network in late 2010.
- Also in December 2010, Bouygues Telecom and SFR agreed to share the costs of deploying FTTH infrastructure in dense municipalities. The companies will share the passive elements of the GPON network, but will compete at the services level. The accord is expected to cover some three million homes in 20 municipalities across France. SFR already has commercial FTTH services in several communities. Bouygues Telecom plans to launch its first FTTH in the second half of 2011.
- SFR also has a FTTH sharing deal with Numericable.
a leading metro fiber network and bandwidth service provider, completed its previously announced acquisition of Open Access Inc., a provider of diverse, cost-effective, customized end-to-end communications solutions, based in Farmingdale, NY.
is a $40 billion company that for the last decade has seen a virtual explosion in market opportunity but that must now regain the discipline it had in earlier days and re-focus, writes John Chambers in a message to Cisco employees that was posted on the company blog.
announced that three new service providers selected its PTN solution in March 2011 for migration from their legacy SONET/SDH networks to future-proof packet based networks. The initial purchases placed by all three service providers are for immediate deployments. Two providers are based in the Caribbean and Latin America and the third is in Eastern Europe. Customer names and financial terms were not disclosed.
announced that it will not seek a mobile license in Syria, despite having earlier qualified to participate in the bidding process. Etisalat said terms and conditions of the bid would not enable it to achieve its objectives regarding the technology and value it wishes to bring to the market nor for its investors and shareholders.
reported total revenue for the fourth quarter of 2010 was $390.3 million, an increase of $14.5 million, or 4%, compared to the year-ago period. Adjusted EBITDA was $59.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2010 compared to $43.3 million in the year-ago period. Net loss for the fourth quarter 2010 was $6.5 million compared to $13.3 million net income for the year-ago period. The company said its Q4 net loss was primarily due to a $20.0 million impairment charge related to its LMDS licenses.
has acquired the 33% stake in Vodafone Essar that was held by Essar. This will result in a total cash payment of US$5 billion to Essar. Final settlement is anticipated to be no later than November 2011. Vodafone Group's noted that its published net debt figure already includes this US$5 billion. Vodafone's stake in Vodafone Essar is now expected to exceed 75%.http://www.vodafone.com
