Who owns the Vodafone group?

As of January 2023, Vodafone owns and operates networks in 21 countries, with partner networks in 48 further countries. Its Vodafone Global Enterprise division provides telecommunications and IT services to corporate clients in 150 countries.

Vodafone has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. The company has a secondary listing on Nasdaq.

Etisalat by e& is Vodafone’s largest single shareholder, and owns 14% of Vodafone’s shares. It has since declared that it was exploring the possibility to increase its stake to 20%

WebsiteIn 1980, Ernest Harrison, then chair of Racal Electronics – the UK’s largest manufacturer of military radios – negotiated a deal with Lord Weinstock of the UK General Electric Company (GEC), which gave Racal access to some of GEC’s battlefield radio technology. Harrison directed the head of Racal’s military radio division, Gerry Whent, to explore the use of that technology for civilian purposes. Whent visited a mobile radio factory run by the US company General Electric (unrelated to UK GEC) in Virginia, that same year. In 1981, the Racal Strategic Radio Ltd subsidiary was established.

Jan Stenbeck, head of a growing Swedish conglomerate, set up an American company, Millicom Inc, and approached Gerry Whent in July 1982 about bidding jointly for the UK’s second cellular radio licence. The two struck a deal giving Racal 60% of the new company, Racal-Millicom Ltd, and Millicom 40%. Due to concerns of the British government about foreign ownership, the terms were revised, and in December 1982 the Racal-Millicom partnership was awarded the second UK mobile phone network licence.Final ownership of Racal-Millicom Ltd was 80% Racal, with Millicom holding 15% plus royalties, and the venture firm Hambros Technology Trust holding 5%. According to the UK Secretary of State for Industry, “the bid submitted by Racal-Millicom Ltd … provided the best prospect for early national coverage by cellular radio.”