French billionaire Xavier Niel to become Vodafone’s largest shareholder in $5.91 billion stake deal

French billionaire Xavier Niel is set to become Vodafone Group’s largest shareholder, after UAE telecoms group e&(formerly Etisalat) agreed to sell its entire stake in the British telecoms group for almost $6 billion.

The deal gives one of Europe’s most active telecoms dealmakers, who has long championed consolidation in the continent’s fragmented industry, the largest stake in Britain’s biggest mobile operator.