Vodafone shareholders will get $3.3 billion from a long-awaited Verizon Wireless dividend, raising hopes for regular payouts from the US company after a six-year drought.
Shares in Vodafone, the world's biggest mobile phone operator by revenue, rose by 4% in London after Verizon Wireless said it would pay $10 billion to the British company and co-owner Verizon Communications.
Vodafone has not received a payout from Verizon Wireless, in which it holds 45%, since 2005, partly because Verizon had hoped to force Vodafone out of the joint venture by not paying a dividend, analysts said.
The development is the latest victory in a campaign by chief executive Vittorio Colao's campaign to make Vodafone's sprawling portfolio more effective.
In the last year, Vodafone has resolved several shared-ownership issues, including buying Essar out of an Indian joint venture for $5.46 billion and selling a stake in China Mobile for $6.5 billion.
Vodafone said its shareholders would receive £2 billion sterling from its $4.5 billion share of the windfall via a special 4 pence-a-share dividend to be paid in February, with the balance used to pay down debt.
The company had flagged in May that it expected to receive a dividend from Verizon next year.
