She takes the helm at a critical time for the struggling group
Vodafone has announced the appointment of its former CFO, Margherita Della Valle, as Group Chief Executive, “after a rigorous internal and external search”. This is according to Vodafone Group Chair, Jean-François van Boxmeer, who added, “Margherita has a strong track record during her long career at Vodafone in marketing, operational, commercial and financial positions.
“Over the last few months as interim Group Chief Executive, the Board and I have been impressed with her pace and decisiveness to begin the necessary transformation of Vodafone. Margherita has the full support of myself and the Board for her plans for Vodafone to provide better customer experience, become a simpler business and accelerate growth.”
Unique position
The new CEO herself said in a statement, “I am honoured to have been appointed as Group Chief Executive. Vodafone has a unique position in Europe and Africa with strong customer relationships, networks and people.
“To realise our potential Vodafone needs to change. We know we can do better. My focus will be to improve the service for our customers, simplify our business and grow.”
Della Valle has no time to use as shareholders are clamouring for change and some other operator groups that are shareholders are seeking to influence proceedings.
With a few upticks, Vodafone’s share price has been falling since a high of £525.20 on 17 March 2000 to £95.57 at the time of writing.
Lots to deal with
Kester Mann, Director, Consumer and Connectivity, CCS Insight, commented, “After such a protracted recruitment process, it’s hard not to conclude that the appointment of Margherita della Valle wasn’t the initial first choice for all parties after Nick Read’s departure was announced. However, she has strong credentials through a wealth of experience both internationally and within Vodafone, including a stint as interim boss.”
However, he adds, “Appointing a close aide of Mr Read to the top job suggests little deviation in strategy for Vodafone. This may not go down so well with people pushing for a fresh approach to running the embattled company, but it does give Vodafone a safe pair of hands during a challenging time.
“There will already be plenty in Margherita della Valle’s in-box. Middle Eastern operator e& is stake-building in the operator, talks on a merger with Three UK are ongoing and fresh discussions are underway in Italy with Iliad, according to reports.”
Pushing for change
Earlier this week we reported on the activities of the Vodafone Group’s single biggest shareholder, e&. Now, according to Bloomberg, Xavier Niel, billionaire founder of the Iliad Group, has rekindled talks with Vodafone Group about its European operations.
Vodafone rejected Iliad’s €11 billion bid for its Italian opco early last year in an attempt to boost its own presence there. It has already had a profound effect on the Italian market since its entry in 2018 under its no-frills Free brand.
Nothing daunted, Niel bought at 2.5% stake in Vodafone in September 2022 through his separate investment arm, Atlas Investissement.
Now it appears, Niel is using his stake to encourage Vodafone to work with the French investment company. Bloomberg reports he has again raised the possibility of a deal in Italy and is said to be scrutinising Vodafone’s assets elsewhere in Europe.
Spanish steps?
There has been speculation that Vodafone is looking to offload all or part of Vodafone Spain. After months of rumours going all the way back to 2019, it failed to secure MasMovil: Orange successfully bid for it in 2022 and is the throes of approvals processes.
Now there is interest “from private equity and strategic suitors” for Vodafone’s Spanish assets which could lead to a deal worth some €4 billion.
The proposed merger of Three UK and Vodafone in its home country is ongoing.