One of the biggest deals in business history was confirmed today as Vodafone sold its 45% stake in Verizon Wireless to Verizon Communications. The deal was announced after the close of trading on the London Stock Exchange on Monday which saw Vodafone's shares rise by 3.4%. Worth £84bn, the deal is seen as the conclusion to a long-running rivalry between Vodafone and the US telecoms group.

Vodafone will return £54bn to its shareholders of which £22bn will go to shareholder’s in the UK and is seen as boost to the UK Economy. The funds raised are thought to allow the company to invest in Europe and to consolidate its business in a number of markets by acquiring broadband and cable TV assets to complement its mobile businesses.

Vodafone group chairman Gerard Kleisterlee said that the transaction will position Vodafone strongly to pursue its leadership strategy in mobile and unified communication services for its customers and enterprises in developed and emerging business markets. The company hopes to invest in developing as a business, aiming to fund its convergence strategy with buyouts of smaller firms, as well as investments that will allow it to offer almost complete total 4G network coverage by 2017 in 5 of its main European markets.

Vodafone moves to acquire stake in German telecoms market