Vivendi is purchasing Vodafone Group’s 44% minority stake in French telecom operator, SFR, for €7.95 billion, The Wall Street Journal reports. After the deal, which is expected to be completed by the end of June 2011, Vodafone will get a final dividend from SFR of €200 million. As per SFR and Vodafone’s agreement, Vodafone will continue to deliver cross-border services to both consumer and enterprise customers across the major markets of Western Europe. Vodafone will return €4.5 billion of the sale proceeds to its shareholders through a share buy-back with the remainder of the proceeds used to reduce its net debt.
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