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London - Verizon Communications was poised on Monday to finally take full control of its US wireless business with a $130bn deal that would buy out Vodafone and bring an end to a decade-long corporate standoff.
The British firm said late on Sunday it was in advanced talks with Verizon to sell its 45% stake in the Verizon Wireless joint venture for cash and common shares in what would be the world's third-largest deal of all time.
People familiar with the situation have told Reuters they expect a full announcement to come after the London stock market closes on Monday, and after the board of Verizon meets earlier to vote on the proposed transaction.
The move to sell the jewel in Vodafone's crown closes a heady expansionist chapter for one of Britain's most famous companies, which grew rapidly over the last 20 years through a spate of aggressive deals to operate in more than 30 countries across Europe, Africa and India.
The new Vodafone will be smaller, less profitable and more reliant on its core, mature European assets but it is expected to use the huge windfall to rebuild via smaller acquisitions and higher network investments.
Speculation has already begun that Vodafone could itself become a bid target, and news of the pending deal sent its shares up 4% to a more than 12-year high in early London trade on Monday.
Under the terms of the proposed agreement, Vodafone would get $60bn in cash, $60bn in Verizon stock, and an additional $10bn from smaller transactions that will take the total deal value to $130bn, two of the people familiar with the matter said on Saturday.
To fund the cash portion of the deal, Verizon has lined up as much as $65bn in financing from four banks: JPMorgan Chase & Co, Morgan Stanley, Barclays and Bank of America Merrill Lynch, they said. The banks have committed to the financing which is expected be split evenly among the four, two people said.
If the deal is concluded, it will end one of the longest-running corporate standoffs, which has at times seen both partners seek to buy out the other in times of weakness. For Verizon, it means that it no longer has to share the billions in cash generated by Verizon Wireless.
On the Vodafone side, CEO Vittorio Colao will get a war chest of cash to reward shareholders and potentially carry out acquisitions to strengthen the group's European and emerging market operations.
Vodafone shares have risen 13% since news of the deal emerged on Thursday.
