Vodafone completes sale of its Spanish operations for £4.3bn

Vodafone has completed the sale of its Spanish operations for £4.3billion – helping to clear the way for its proposed merger with rival Three.

The division has been sold to London-based telecoms investor Zegona.

Vodafone chief executive Margherita Della Valle is spearheading a turnaround plan and trying to simplify its operations to boost its performance. 

Last year the telecoms giant also ditched its Hungarian and Ghanaian divisions and sold its stake in phone masts business Vantage Towers for £7.4billion.

Shares closed up 1.1 per cent yesterday at 75.62p. Zegona shares fell 2.3 per cent to 254p.

Eamonn O’Hare, Zegona’s chairman and chief executive, said he was looking forward to ‘transforming the [Spanish] business and returning it to growth’.