Britain’s Vodafone confirms sale of Italian arm to Swisscom for $8.7 billion

By PAN PYLAS
Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — British cellphone company Vodafone has confirmed that it’s selling its Italian business to Switzerland’s Swisscom for about $8.7 billion. It said Friday that it will hand back half of the proceeds to its shareholders through the buyback of company shares. Vodafone said the move represents an “attractive valuation” and marks the final step of its strategy to sell off parts of its European portfolio. Swisscom said it is aiming to merge its acquisition with Fastweb, the telecoms operator’s subsidiary in Italy. The markets appeared to welcome the deal, with shares of Vodafone and Swisscom both up.