Companies

Vodafone to sell its Italian business in €8 billion deal

Shareholders to get €4 billion through buyback after sale to Switzerland’s Swisscom

Margherita Della Valle, group chief executive of Vodafone. ‘Today, I am announcing the third and final step in the reshaping of our European operations.’

Vodafone has agreed an €8 billion eight deal to sell its Italian business to Switzerland’s Swisscom. The mobile phone giant said it plans to hand €4 billion euros back to shareholders through a buyback following the sale.

It comes two weeks after the company first confirmed it was in discussions over a potential deal. On Friday, London-listed Vodafone said the move represented an “attractive valuation” and marked the final step of its strategy to sell ...