Vodafone May Sell SFR Stake After Vivendi Talks, Observer Says

Vodafone Group Plc is finalizing a deal to sell its 44 percent stake in French mobile operator SFR for 7 billion pounds ($11 billion), after talks with the owner of the remaining shares, Vivendi SA, the Observer reported, without saying where it got the information.

That will make way for a 5 billion-pound buyback of Vodafone’s own shares next year, the newspaper said. Vodafone is close to announcing an 800 million-pound sale of its 24 percent holding in Polish phone company Polkomtel SA, the Observer said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Nicholas Larkin in London at nlarkin1@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net