Vodafone Group’s biggest shareholder has approval to raise its holding to 15%, mulls investing in African opcos
Vodafone Group’s biggest shareholder, Emirates Telecommunications Group (e&) is reported by Bloomberg to be pushing for changes to Vodafone’s board.
The investor began discussions with Vodafone on 12 April 12 about non-executive directors to better engage “on a variety of topics,” according to a regulatory filing on Monday.
E& has also increased its stake in Vodafone to 14.6%, up from 14%. E& itself is majority owned by the United Arab Emirates’s sovereign wealth fund.
Falling share price
Vodafone’s share price has been falling for years and has dropped by about a quarter since e& took its initial stake in May last year. Vodafone Group’s CEO was ousted towards the end of 2022 and the Group still has not announced a replacement to take the tiller.
Two of Vodafone’s non-executive directors — Clara Furse and Crispin Davis — will shortly have both served nine years, which is the maximum term recommended in the UK’s corporate governance code.
E& said it has regulatory approval to raise its stake in Vodafone to 15%. According to unnamed sources, it has explored investing in Vodafone’s African business, Vodacom Group Ltd.
