Vodafone (LON:VOD) has agreed to buy Spain’s largest cable operator Ono for £6 billion as it bets on a recovery from the country hit hard by the financial crisis.
The move for privately-owned Ono, which serves around 1.9mln customers in Spain, follows the acquisition of Germany’s Kabel Deutschland last year.
Vodafone said Ono’s network has “abundant spare capacity and a future-proof fibre architecture,” which suggests expansion is on the cards.
It plans to spend up to £25bn of the £84bn it pocketed from the sale of its 45% stake in Verizon Wireless.
Chief executive Vittorio Colao said: “The combination of Vodafone and Ono creates a leading integrated communications provider in Spain and represents an attractive value creation opportunity for Vodafone.
“Demand for unified communications products and services has increased significantly over the last few years in Spain, and this transaction - together with our fibre-to-the-home build programme - will accelerate our ability to offer best-in-class propositions in the Spanish market.”