Published: July 10, 2026 at 8:17 am
French telecoms billionaire Xavier Niel is to become the largest shareholder in Vodafone Group plc after agreeing a £4.4 billion deal with e& (formerly Etisalat).
Niel, whose family group’s telecom investments and businesses span 26 countries in Europe and Latin America, has agreed to buy the Emirati telecoms giant’s 16.2% shareholding through newly created acquisition vehicle Vega.
The largest private investor in the telecoms sector in Europe, Niel’s family group has 139 million subscribers, 45,000 employees, €24bn of annual revenues and more than €9bn of EBITDAaL. Assets include iliad, Salt, Monaco Telecom, Eir, Tele2 and Millicom.