(Alliance News) - Vodafone Group PLC on Tuesday said it has continued to reduce its stake in Vantage Towers AG, receiving a further EUR500 million from a consortium of infrastructure investors.

Vodafone said the consortium, led by KKR & Co and Global Infrastructure Partners, will increase its ownership of Oak Holdings GmbH to 40%.

Oak Holdings has an 89% interest in Vantage Towers, a Dusseldorf, Germany-based mobile phone tower operator. Vantage Towers was a subsidiary of Vodafone before being spun off as a separate company listed in Frankfurt in early 2021. Late last year, Vantage Towers was taken private again by Vodafone and its partners.

The agreement announced on Tuesday takes total net proceeds to Vodafone from the consortium to EUR5.4 billion, and its stake in Oak Holdings will be reduced to 60% from 64%.

The infrastructure investors can buy more shares of Oak Holdings at the same price, up to a 50% stake, by the end of 2023. Vodafone then will have a 12-month option to sell down its stake to 50%, starting January 1 next year.

Vodafone shares were down 0.8% at 71.29 pence early Tuesday in London.

By Tom Waite, Alliance News editor

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