Vodafone now owns 100% of German fixed-line carrier Arcor

Vodafone announced that it now owns 100% of German fixed-line carrier Arcor. The Big Red giant paid 474 million EUR in cash to get the 26.4% interest from Deutsche Bahn AG and Deutsche Bank AG.

With full ownership of Arcor, the leading alternative fixed-line carrier in Germany with 2.6 million DSL lines, representing 14% market share, Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) continues to execute on its strategy of meeting the total telecommunication needs of its customers. The transaction also enables Vodafone Germany to exploit further the potential synergies available from fixed-mobile integration and to participate more effectively in the continued rapid development of the German broadband market, which is growing at just under 30% per annum.

Commenting on the transaction, Vodafone’s Chief Executive Arun Sarin said: “This deal is consistent with our total communications strategy. By taking full control of Arcor and aligning it more closely with Vodafone Germany we will leverage the greater scale this presents, and generate synergies and substantial time to market benefits within Europe’s largest telecommunications market.”