UAE’s Etisalat ups its stake in Vodafone in the United Kingdom

According to a market filing on Wednesday, UK-based Vodafone Group now owns more shares of UAE telecom company Etisalat (e&).
The state-backed company now holds more than 3 billion shares in Vodafone, representing 11% of the UK mobile phone company’s issued share capital, excluding treasury shares, Etisalat said in a disclosure to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX).  
A few months earlier, the telecoms provider, which recently rebranded to e&, became Vodafone’s biggest shareholder after taking almost 10% stake in the British firm for $4.4 billion. 
“The rationale of e&’s investment in Vodafone is unchanged from the original investment, as announced on May 14, 2022, which is to gain significant exposure to a world leader in connectivity and digital service at an attractive valuation,” the company said.  
The telecom provider did not disclose the value of the latest transaction.  For the third quarter of the year, Etisalat recorded consolidated revenue of AED 13 billion ($3.5 billion) and a net income of AED 2.5 billion. Profit increased year over year by 1.9%, while revenue increased by 5.5%.