With the operation of Orange and MásMóvil in focus, the truth is that we are losing sight of other movements that can occur in the telecommunications sector. In this case, we are not talking about those that may affect Digi, Finetwork or Avatel in their quest to reach fourth position in the Spanish market. Specifically, we are talking about Zegona’s plans to buy Vodafone Spain for more than 5,000 million euros if everything follows the planned steps and they obtain financing.
Zegona is a British investment manager who has already carried out some operations in our country. In fact, in 2015 it bought the Asturian operator Telecable, which is now part of the MásMóvil Group. Her idea now involves buying Vodafone and for this she is negotiating the financing that will allow her to undertake the operation. All this according to sources familiar with the process.
Vodafone would change hands
According to what has been leaked in media such as Expansión, the operation has been in the works for weeks, although it is far from being closed. For example, Zegona has yet to finalize the financial scheme that makes all this possible. Currently working with a valuation above 5,000 million euros, placing it at 100% of the value of Vodafone Spain. Vodafone is working with Morgan Stanley, Evercore and Garrigues to evaluate the different possibilities available for its Spanish subsidiary.
To facilitate the operation, Zegona even plans to make some concessions, such as splitting the capital of the Spanish subsidiary 50/50. With this, they would be able to reduce the amount paid and financing would be much easier to obtain. It would also ensure that Vodafone would continue to be present in the Spanish market and not disappear definitively after several decades.
Furthermore, this would not be strange for Vodafone, which already has agreements like this in other countries. Without going any further, it has a 50/50 alliance in the Netherlands with the American firm Liberty over the operator Ziggo Vodafone.
Be that as it may, this move is not as unexpected as it might seem. In fact, new CEO Margherita della Valle already said last May that she was putting the Spanish subsidiary under “strategic review, taking into account all potential options.” Before that, the Spanish subsidiary stopped being an independent unit and was integrated into the European cluster, something that does not happen with the businesses in Germany, the United Kingdom and Italy.
Changes in Vodafone Spain
In recent weeks there have been several movements within Vodafone Spain. For example, we have learned that António Coimbra, who was CEO of Vodafone Spain from September 2012 to October 2020 and president of the company since January 2018, will make way for Mário Vaz, CEO of Vodafone Spain, as new president as of October 1 of this year.
Also that Ignacio Román has been appointed as the new director of the consumer unit for private clients and that he will take office on October 1, replacing Hisham Hendi, who will stay by his side in the transition period and will then assume new roles within the company.
