Vodafone is under increasing pressure from discontented investors to sell out of its minority holdings, due to its struggling share price and hefty debt.
The largest and most contentious of these is its 45% stake in Verizon Wireless, which is worth an estimated £33 billion. Verizon, which owns the rest of the company, hasn't paid Vodafone a dividend since 2005.
Vodafone also owns 44% of SFR and 24% of Polkomtel in Poland, WSJ.com said.
But a sale of the Verizon Wireless and SFR stakes would be difficult to arrange, because Verizon and Vivendi – which owns the remainder of SFR – would be the only likely buyers.
Vodafone’s London-listed stock rose 0.10p overnight to 158.90p.
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