Earlier this month, the British operator group announced the next phase of the €4 billion buy-back scheme it launched in 2024
The UAE’s e& announced its in stake in Vodafone Group has risen to just over 17% as a result of Vodafone’s share buyback programme which reduces the total share capital. e& bought a 9.8% stake for $4.4 billion (about €4.23 billion then) in May 2022, which it increased to 13% in February 2023. It holds 3,944.7 million shares.
In March 2024, as part of the ‘right-sizing’ strategy set out by Group CEO Margherita Della Valle, Vodafone sold its Italian business to Swisscom. Della Valle announced, “Our transactions in Italy and Spain will deliver €12 billion of upfront cash proceeds and we intend to return €4 billion to shareholders via buybacks, as part of our broader capital allocation review.”
Vodafone Group launched the first €500 tranche of its share buy-back programme in May 2024 when the operator group received approval from Spanish authorities to sell Vodafone Spain to Zegona Communications, a British investment fund.
Buy-back continues
In its H1 2026 earnings call in November 2025, Vodafone said it had returned €3 billion to shareholders via share buybacks since May 2024 with a further €1 billion of its goal remaining.
That month Vodafone bought 9 million ordinary shares from Goldman Sachs and earlier this month, it announced the next tranche – a €500 million share buyback programme to run from February 5 to May 11, aimed at reducing its share capital.
In February 2026, Vodafone agreed to sell its stake in the Netherlands’ VodafoneZiggo to Liberty Global for €1 billion.
