Vodafone shareholders eye potential £5bn windfall

Beleaguered Vodafone shareholders were today eyeing a potential £5bn (€7.3bn) pay-day from the mobile phone company’s under-pressure chief executive.

The prospect of a record special dividend for a British company emerged after Arun Sarin indicated that the successful sale of Vodafone’s Japanese subsidiary would prompt it to consider the best way of returning cash to shareholders.