Verizon vote on Vodafone buyout imminent

The board of Verizon Communication will meet tomorrow to vote on a US$130 billion deal to buy out Vodafone from its joint venture.

The board meeting would be held on Monday morning New York time, sources said, meaning the terms of the deal would likely be announced after the London market closes at 1530 GMT.

Both the telecom giants declined to comment. The Vodafone board had been due to meet on Sunday, sources said, but it was not clear what their decision was.

It is understood Verizon plans to pay for half of the purchase with its own stock. For the rest, it has tapped JPMorgan Chase & Co, Morgan Stanley, Barclays and Bank of America Merrill Lynch to help raise the funds through a mix of bonds and bank loans, the sources said.

The banks have committed to the financing that is expected to be split evenly among the four.

One person familiar with the proceedings said Vodafone would get US$60 billion in cash, US$60 billion in Verizon stock, and an additional US$10 billion from other smaller transactions that will take the total deal value to US$130 billion.