Verizon and Vodafone Finally Breaking Up

Verizon and Vodafone have finally announced a deal that’s at least three years in the making: Verizon is to pay Vodafone $130 billion for the British operator group’s 45 percent stake in Verizon Wireless.

The companies’ boards have given their approval and the transaction should close in the first quarter of 2014, Verizon and Vodafone said on Monday. As a result of the deal, Verizon gets to be more nimble with its mobile offering in the U.S. and Vodafone gets a huge pile of cash with which it can further its M&A ambitions in Europe.