Vodafone Group

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Vodafone Group Plc

logo
legal form Public Limited Company
ISIN GB00BH4HKS39
founding 1984
Seat Newbury , Berkshire , United Kingdom
United KingdomUnited Kingdom 
management
Number of employees 103,564
sales 46.5 billion euros (2018)
Branch telecommunications
Website www.vodafone.com
As of December 31, 2018

The Vodafone Group Plc is an international British telecommunications company . Although the headquarters are now in London , the registered headquarters are still in Newbury .

The name Vodafone is an acronym of vo ice, since ta and fone and is the company's services show: voice and data services over mobile phones (German: voice and data services via mobile phones ). The idea to write “phone” with “f” came from the advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi . The name “Vodafone” quickly became a brand thanks to its presence in almost all European mobile communications markets .

In the 2016 financial year, Vodafone achieved sales of $ 41.0 billion and employed 107,667 people worldwide.

The German Vodafone GmbH is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Vodafone Plc and has been managed by Hannes Ametsreiter since October 2015 , with headquarters in Düsseldorf .

history

Vodafone branch in Iași, Romania

The British Racal Radio Group successfully participated in an auction for a mobile phone license in 1982 and started the network in 1985 under the name Vodafone . In 1988 the company went public for the first time , and 20% of the shares in Racal's mobile communications division were issued. In 1991 there was a complete separation from Racal. Vodafone entered into its first international investments in 1993, followed by the takeover of the American Airtouch, which was incorporated into the Verizon Wireless joint venture shortly afterwards, under CEO Chris Gent, who took up the position in 1997 . In the course of the Airtouch takeover, Vodafone also acquired a minority stake in the Mannesmann mobile communications division (D2), the parent company of which was finally taken over in 2000. Acquisitions in Ireland , Spain , Greece and other countries followed.

Mannesmann takeover

An important step for the company was the takeover of the German industrial giant Mannesmann AG in February 2001. The then CEO of Vodafone, Chris Gent, had recognized that a takeover of Mannesmann would be rewarded by the capital markets in the growing mobile communications market. At this point in time, Mannesmann also had Vodafone's home market in its sights with the acquisition of Orange in Great Britain. The takeover kept the media and the financial world in suspense for months.

Because of premium payments in the course of this takeover, the Mannesmann trial began in January 2004 against persons involved in the process, which was temporarily suspended in November 2006 by the Düsseldorf Regional Court against monetary conditions in accordance with Section 153a StPO . The hostile takeover also led to a heated public discussion about the responsibility of entrepreneurs for Germany as a business location .

Takeover of Cable & Wireless

On April 23, 2012, Vodafone announced that it had reached an agreement to acquire the British fiber-optic network operator Cable & Wireless Worldwide for £ 1.04 billion (equivalent to around 1.29 billion euros). Cable & Wireless Worldwide shareholders approved the acquisition by Vodafone on June 19, 2012, after which they received 38p per share.

Sale of shares in Verizon Wireless

By 2 September 2013, Vodafone announced the sale of its stake in Verizon Wireless for 130 billion US dollars of Verizon Communications announced. Vodafone would then withdraw from the Verizon Wireless joint venture , in which it holds 45 percent, and from the US market. In return, Vodafone would become a wholly-owned shareholder in Vodafone Omnitel (Italy). The takeover was completed in spring 2014 and was one of the largest transactions in economic history.

Takeover of Kabel Deutschland

On September 12, 2013, Vodafone announced that the Kabel Deutschland shares had been bought by more than 75 percent of the shareholders for 10.7 billion euros.

Acquisition of Liberty Global in Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania

At the end of November 2014 it was announced that Vodafone Group Plc. is currently examining the complete takeover or the takeover of individual divisions of Liberty Global . On September 28, 2015, it was reported that the takeover talks had failed due to differing views on the value of the individual national companies. On May 9, 2018, Vodafone announced an agreement to take over the activities of Liberty Global in Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania with a value of 18.4 billion euros. The merger of Vodafone Kabel Deutschland and Unitymedia creates a monopoly in the German cable television network . The highly profitable sale to Vodafone should be largely tax-free for Liberty. The EU Commission approved the merger on July 18, 2019. The EU approval was followed by the so-called closing on August 1, 2019, i.e. the execution of the purchase contract.

share

Vodafone shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange. Despite increasing debt of the Group 's share price rose from 45 pence in January 1996 to 401.5 pence on 10 March 2000th

Business figures

Office building in Spain Madrid

Vodafone has over 404 million customers worldwide (proportionately according to participation; as of March 31, 2012) and is the second largest globally operating mobile communications company in the world after China Mobile . In 2010 the Vodafone brand was valued by the market research institute Millward Brown ( Kantar Group ) at 44.40 billion US dollars, making it 10th on the list of the most valuable brands . Compared to the previous year 2009, Vodafone lost a value of 9.33 billion US dollars and thus a place in this list. According to the European Brand Institute , Vodafone is the third most valuable brand in Europe with a brand value of 25.14 billion euros.

Annual sales for the financial year ended March 31, 2013 were £ 44.4 billion, a decrease of 4.4% compared to the previous year. As of March 2013, Vodafone had 91,272 employees worldwide, of which 12% were employed in Germany, 6% in Italy, 5% in Spain, 10% in the United Kingdom and 13% in India. Within the Vodafone Group, India has the most customers (152 million), followed by the USA (99 million), South Africa (59 million), Germany (32 million), Italy (29 million), Great Britain (19 million), and Spain ( 14 million).

Overall structure of the company

Vodafone in Europe (as of 05/2009):
  • Vodafone represented itself
  • Vodafone subsidiaries represented
  • Vodafone partner represented

    • Today's CEO of the Vodafone Group, based in Newbury, is the Briton Nick Read.

    The company is currently represented in 30 countries worldwide and has partnerships in 40 other countries. The Vodafone Group has stakes in mobile operators in 27 countries, but it is not represented with its own brand in all European countries. Michel Combes, who started his career at France Telecom in 1986, was the European Region Director until 2012. In France , Vodafone held a 44 percent stake in SFR with 19 million customers until 2011 . On April 4, 2011 it was announced that this stake would be sold to the majority shareholder Vivendi for 7.75 billion euros . In 2000 the Greek cell phone company Panafon was taken over. In August 2012, Philipp Humm succeeded Michel Combes. In the meantime, customers outside of Germany can call 296 network operators in 154 countries on all continents and can be reached there under their Vodafone number.

    Vodafone Foundation

    The Vodafone Group has been running the Vodafone Foundation since 1992.

    See also

    Web links

    Commons : Vodafone  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

    Individual evidence

    1. ↑ a b Welcome to our 2018 Annual Report. (PDF; 13.2 MB) Vodafone Group Plc, accessed on October 27, 2018 .
    2. ^ Company History
    3. ↑ Thorsten Hoepken: Happy Birthday Vodafone - the name is 30 years old today . In: vodafone.de , March 22, 2014. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
    4. ↑ Press release: Dr. Hannes Ametsreiter starts on October 1st . Press release from September 30, 2015, accessed on January 6, 2016.
    5. ↑ Billion deal : Vodafone takes over Cable & Wireless. Jörg Schamberg, dpa, April 23, 2012, accessed on June 19, 2012 .
    6. ↑ Shareholders agree: Vodafone takes over Cable Wireless. Andreas Wilkens, dpa, June 19, 2012, accessed on June 19, 2012 .
    7. ^ Verizon Wireless Transaction. Retrieved September 2, 2013.
    8. ^ Spiegel Online. Verizon and Vodafone: $ 130 Billion Acquisition Sealed. Accessed September 2, 2013.
    9. ^ Die Welt: Vodafone succeeds in taking over Kabel Deutschland. Retrieved September 12, 2013 .
    10. ↑ digitalfernsehen.de: Vodafone is examining merger with cable company Liberty Global
    11. ↑ heise.de: Vodafone is apparently examining a merger with Liberty Global
    12. ↑ Bloomberg.com: Vodafone Weighing Takeover of Malone's Liberty Global
    13. ↑ handelsblatt.com: Vodafone is considering merger with Liberty Global
    14. ^ The Register: Vodafone eyes up Liberty Global - report
    15. ↑ Reuters: Vodafone UK examining options, Including a move for Liberty - sources
    16. ↑ http://www.handelsblatt.com/unternehmen/it-medien/kabelbetreiber-vodafone-deal-mit-liberty-global-ist-geplatzt/12378682.html
    17. ↑ Vodafone to acquire Liberty Global's operations in Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania
    18. ↑ Liberty Global is said to have excluded Unitymedia. December 5, 2018, accessed December 30, 2018 .
    19. ↑ https://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Gruenes-Licht-aus-Bruessel-Vodafone-darf-Unitymedia-uebernehmen-4474398.html
    20. ^ Liberty Global to Sell Operations in Germany, Hungary, Romania and the Czech Republic to Vodafone. Liberty Global, May 9, 2018, accessed May 9, 2018 .
    21. ↑ https://app.handelsblatt.com/technik/it-tk/telekommunikation-vodafone-startet-mit-unitymedia-den-angriff-auf-die-telekom/24856306.html
    22. ↑ Vodafone share: No sustainable increase in wealth . In: FAZ.NET . September 24, 2003, ISSN  0174-4909 ( faz.net [accessed March 3, 2020]).
    23. ↑ millwardbrown.com - BrandZ Top 100 2010 Report ( Memento from May 4, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
    24. ↑ Annual Report for the year ended March 31, 2013 (PDF). (PDF; 13.2 MB) Vodafone Group Plc, accessed on June 25, 2013 .
    25. ↑ http://www.vodafone.com/content/index/about/about_us/board/michel_combes.html
    26. ↑ Vivendi takes over the SFR share from Vodafone. Retrieved April 4, 2011 .
    27. ^ Philipp Humm - Vodafone. Short biography at vodafone.com. Retrieved February 24, 2014
    28. ^ Foundation. In: Vodafone.com. Retrieved May 3, 2020 (UK English).