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.
£4bn (€4.5bn) 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.
Subject to customary competition authority and regulatory approvals, the transaction is expected to complete during the second calendar quarter of 2011. At 30 September 2010 the SFR investment had a carrying value of €4.9bn (£4.3bn) in Vodafone’s accounts. The transaction consideration represents an EV/EBITDA multiple of 6.7x CY10 EV/EBITDA (note 3) and is expected to be neutral to free cash flow per share following completion of the share buy-back.
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.
“By returning £4bn to our shareholders, we are increasing our current buy-back programme to £6.8bn in total, equivalent to over 7% of Vodafone's current market capitalisation.”
Société Française du Radiotéléphone (SFR) designs, builds and operates telephone systems for fixed and mobile phones, designs, builds, commercialises, and operates any system, equipment, services or networks in relation to voice and data transmission in France. SFR also operates fixed and fibre-to-the-home network and systems.