Vodafone defeats rebel shareholders

Mobile phone giant Vodafone today defeated plans by rebel shareholders seeking a radical overhaul of the company.

Activist shareholder group Efficient Capital Structures (ECS), which includes former Marconi finance director John Mayo, were calling for Vodafone to spin off its 45% stake in US firm Verizon Wireless and load up the company with an extra £34bn (€50.66bn) in debt to return more cash to investors.