On Thursday, Vodafone Group (VOD.L) announced that the CEO of its largest shareholder, Emirates telecoms group Etisalat (EAND.AD), also known as e&, would join its board of directors, as the two companies agreed to deepen their strategic relationship.
The British firm stated that e& CEO Hatem Dowidar would remain on the board as long as e& retained its current 14.6% stake and that it would be able to nominate a second non-executive director if its shareholding exceeded 20%.
The company has stated that it is willing to increase its stake in Vodafone.
Vodafone CEO Margherita Della Valle, who was appointed to the position permanently last month, stated that closer collaboration with e& would benefit both companies and add telecoms experience to Vodafone’s board.
The organizations stated that they could offer multinationals and public sector organizations joint cross-border digital services and solutions, consider joint procurement, form closer roaming agreements, and collaborate in technology.
Since an initial investment in May 2022, E&, which has operations in 16 countries across the Middle East, Asia, and Africa, has increased its stake in Vodafone.
It has recently been joined on the shareholder register by French telecoms billionaire Xavier Niel, who competes with Vodafone in Italy, and Liberty Global, Vodafone’s Dutch partner.
With an underperforming stock price, Della Valle is under pressure to shake up the group, which has operations in Europe and Africa, and drive the consolidation it has stated is required in major markets such as the United Kingdom and Italy.
Analysts believe that changes to Vodafone’s footprint could benefit all three of the company’s telecoms industry shareholders.
Vodafone shares were down 0.5% in early trading on Thursday.
