Vodafone settles US$256-million merger liabilities
Published:Friday | January 2, 2026 | 12:08 AM
Vodafone Group Plc, one of the world’s largest telecoms companies, has reached a final settlement valued at US$256 million with Vodafone Idea Limited (Vi) over liabilities dating back to their 2017 merger in India.
Under the deal, Vodafone will make a cash payment of €219 million (US$256 million) and set aside 3.28 billion shares in Vi, equal to a 3.03 per cent stake. Vi can instruct Vodafone to sell those shares and receive the proceeds. The cash payment, however, is offset by Vi settling outstanding Vodafone Group service charges of the same amount, meaning no net cash outflow for Vodafone. Vodafone currently holds a 16.07 per cent stake in Vi.
The agreement closes all major outstanding issues between the two firms which entered into a merger agreement in 2017. The settlement relates to the Contingent Liability Adjustment Mechanism (CLAM), which covered pre-merger legal, regulatory, tax and other risks. Vodafone’s maximum exposure under the CLAM was capped at INR 83.69 billion (US$928 million), later reduced to INR 63.94 billion (US$709 million) after earlier payments.
Vodafone is a telecoms giant serving more than 360 million mobile and broadband customers across Europe and Africa. It operates in 15 countries directly, has investments in five more, and partners in over 40. Vodafone also runs one of the world’s largest Internet of Things platforms, with over 220 million connections, provides financial services to 94 million customers in seven African countries, processes more transactions than any other provider, owns capacity on more than 70 subsea cable systems, and is developing direct‑to‑mobile satellite services to connect areas without coverage.
This scale makes Vodafone comparable to the biggest telecoms players globally, with reach far beyond Europe. By settling the CLAM and service charge issues, Vodafone has effectively drawn a line under the India merger liabilities. Both items were already carried at nil value in Vodafone’s balance sheet, so the agreement has no impact on its reported financials. Vodafone’s statement emphasised that the deal “closes all material open issues between Vodafone and Vi”, allowing the group to focus on its broader strategy: keeping customers connected “from the seabed to the stars”.