The dust has settled somewhat at Vodafone Group HQ following recent concerns raised by the U.K. government over United Arab Emirates-based e&’s growing stake in the operator.
On Wednesday, Vodafone confirmed that e&’s chief executive Hatem Dowidar will be joining its board as non-executive director, effective February 19 after the necessary regulatory approvals were obtained.
In a statement, Jean-François van Boxmeer, chair of Vodafone, said Dowidar brings “extensive experience within the telecommunications industry and has held senior positions across a range of companies in the Middle East, Africa and Europe.”
According to van Boxmeer, Dowidar’s appointment will also further strengthen the strategic partnership formed between the two telecom groups last year after e& acquired a 9.8% stake in Vodafone.
Since then, the UAE operator has gradually increased its stake to 14.6% and is now Vodafone’s largest shareholder. Liberty Global is next with a 4.9% stake, followed by the Vanguard Group with 2.86% and Xavier Niel, owner of the France-based Iliad group, with 2.5%.
Growing partnership
The appointment of Dowidar to the board appears to have put a line under recent events that saw the U.K. government describe the stake held by e& in Vodafone as a national security risk in terms of government contracts and cyber security.
Under the National Security and Investment Act, which came into force in 2022, the government is able to review foreign takeovers of companies in industries that have ties to national security.
However, the government subsequently approved the strategic relationship agreement between Vodafone and e& and said it has put in place “proportionate measures to address any potential national security concerns.”
In the meantime, Vodafone is making good on its pledge to collaborate with e& in areas such as enterprise, procurement, wholesale, roaming and open RAN development.
Last week, for example, Vodafone Group chief executive Margherita Della Valle said e& is participating in the request for quotes for open RAN technology across Vodafone’s entire global footprint of 170,000 sites.
In a further joint procurement project, Vodafone and e& have joined forces to support cross-border voice services based on 4G and 5G technologies.
The aim, as explained by Ninian Wilson, CEO of Vodafone Procurement and Connectivity, is to help other operators manage the growing complexity of cross-border voice, “providing protection against international scams, and the need to migrate to 5G services.”
Meanwhile, in October last year Vodafone Business and e& unveiled UAE-based Al-Futtaim Group as their first joint major customer win. The family-run conglomerate operates in diverse sectors such as automotive, retail, real estate, finance and health.