Verizon agrees to $130-bn Vodafone deal

Verizon Communications Inc agreed to acquire Vodafone Group Plc’s 45 per cent stake in Verizon Wireless in a $130 billion transaction that gives it full control of the most profitable US mobile-phone carrier.

The deal has been approved by both companies’ boards and is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2014, according to a statement on Monday. Verizon will pay Vodafone $58.9 billion in cash, financed with credit from JPMorgan Chase & Co, Bank of America Corp, Barclays Plc and Morgan Stanley. The company also will issue $60.2 billion in stock to Vodafone shareholders.

The acquisition ends a 14-year partnership and will let Verizon collect all the future profits from the wireless unit while allowing Vodafone to exit a business whose dividends and operations it didn’t control.