As recently as this past month of December US telecommunications giant Verizon Communications and UK peer Vodafone held talks aimed at thrashing out a full combination of their operations.
Those however broke down when it came time to decide on the 'details' of any such arrangement, such as leadership and the location of the new headquarters, according to two persons who ask not to be named because the matter is private, Bloomberg reports.
Thus, the most likely scenario now is a buy-out or a partial sale of Vodafone's 45% stake in Verizon Wireless subsidiary, those same sources said.
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As of 08:17 shares of Vodafone are now rising by 6.32% to 179.2p on the Footsie.
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