French billionaire takes 2.5 per cent stake in Vodafone

Xavier Niel wants to accelerate Vodafone’s cost cutting

French billionaire Xavier Niel has his eye on a Vodafone takeover. Atlas Investissement an investment vehicle of telco mogul Xavier Niel, (above) has acquired a 2.5 per cent share holding in Vodafone Group.

Niel is a recognised entrepreneur and major long-term investor in the telecoms sector across several European and African markets. He has investments in the telecoms sector in nine countries in Europe with nearly 50 million active subscribers combined and more than 10 billion euros of revenues. He is the owner of iliad, a leading telecoms provider in France, Italy and Poland as well as NJJ Holding, an investor in telecoms assets including Switzerland and Ireland and the Free mobile network operator.

Atlas Investissement says Vodafone as an attractive investment opportunity due to the the quality of its assets portfolio and the solid underlying trends in the global telecommunications sector.

Atlas Investissement says it supports Vodafone’s aim to consolidate its operations in various countries (Vodafone recently agreed to sell Vodafone Hungary for €1.8 billion to 4iG and Corvinus) as well as its efforts in infrastructure separation.

Atlas Investissement’s reckons there are opportunities to further reduce Vodafone’s costs, improve profitability, accelerate broadband development in Germany and other countries and enhance focus on innovation.