Vodafone to buy Spain operator for €7.2bn

Vodafone has agreed to buy Spain’s largest cable operator Ono for €7.2bn, the latest big deal in the European telecoms sector.

The British group yesterday said it would use some of the $130bn (€93bn) proceeds from the sale of its US arm to acquire Ono, with a superfast cable network and 1.9m customers, to create a stronger challenger to market leader Telefonica.

The deal for private equity-owned Ono is Vodafone’s third purchase of a European fixed-broadband asset in two years, following similar moves in Britain and Germany, enabling it to offer fixed-line and mobile services, pay-TV, and broadband, while saving money on building and operating its networks.