Vodafone will say goodbye to Spain in 2024. Not so with his brand, which may last another ten years. This is allowed by an agreement signed between the Spanish operator and the venture investment fund Zegona, which acquired the company’s business for approximately 5 billion euros. After a long time of rumors and figures that did not work out for the telecommunications giant, this same week it announced that it was leaving the Spanish market due to results crisis who suffered for years.

The boom years were over as Vodafone gained prominence in the national market. His commitment to infrastructure competitive prices and for one TV with all possible content (including football) made him look into the eyes of the Almighty telephone. But the reality is that the operator showed losses quarter after quarter, and only loans saved Vodafone Spain from even greater harm. In fact, losses exceeded €383 million in the last financial year. Perhaps this is the last straw for matrix control, leaving a taste of failure and disappointment among employees the company itself in our country.

The news, however, did not come as a surprise to the telecommunications sector, which monopolizes the headlines and covers of the economic press. Spain, like almost all European countries, is experiencing an unprecedented crisis. High competition for attracting customers has led to an all-out war between operators. In the first decade of the 2000s, calls began budgetwhich began to reduce prices, causing a big telecommunicationssuch as Telefónica, Orange or Vodafone were forced to reduce their tariffs in order not to lose users.

In turn, large companies had to continue investment in infrastructure as a result of new times and were forced to hand them over to operators who burst onto the national scene due to obligations imposed by the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC).

This was the beginning of the end for Vodafone. At the end of the 90s, the British company established itself in Spain thanks to the acquisition of Airtel, one of the most influential firms of the time, which made it the second most important company in Spain and was founded by several businessmen. in Spain. Its shareholders included Emilio Botin, Juan Abello, the Entrecanales family or the Basque bourgeoisie with José Maria Amusategui at its head. In the management of the Spanish operator, which at that time already had almost six million customers, appeared Ignacio Sanchez Galan who were not yet familiar with the energy sector.

Vodafone bought back shares from several shareholders between late 1999 and 2000 to gain 74%, valuing 100% of the company at around €24 billion at the time. After several shareholder movements, the company acquired almost 90%.

Years later, the telecommunications giant acquired Tele2 to control the fixed-line business. Investment appetite continued to grow even as the industry boomed. Bought Vodafone in 2014., ONO for approximately 7.2 billion euros. In total, the company has spent more than 40 billion euros to become the second most important company in Spain. And this does not take into account the huge investments in infrastructure that it has carried out throughout its history in Spanish geography. According to Vodafone Spain’s own calculations, it has spent more than 38 billion euros on upgrading its networks, and its impact on the Spanish economy has exceeded the 40 billion barrier.

Trust foreign consultants

Vodafone Spain preferred the stability of its management before the great economic crisis of the 21st century. After his stint at Airtel, the baton fell into the hands of Francisco Roman, a businessman who knew the telecom market very well. Thanks to him, for example, the purchase of Tele2 was closed. When he left his post as non-executive chairman of Vodafone, he chose to focus on the national market and hired South African Shamell Jusub, who is now the operator’s strongman internationally.

Two years later, in 2012, the corporation appointed Antonio Coimbra, who has achieved impressive results in Portugal, the coach’s country of origin. During its existence, the Spanish subsidiary faced its first competitive problems since Orange and others. budget They burst into business and Vodafone Spain began to lose customers. To correct the situation and regain second place in terms of the number of customers and revenue, the telecom attempted to buy ONO, launched its budget brand (Lowi) and launched premium television, even going so far as to purchase the rights to La Liga and the Champions League. The formula, which however did not produce the expected results and losses, became a common occurrence in quarterly reports.

In the context of an acute financial crisis, Vodafone Spain decided to take the scissors and begin selling assets. In addition, the telecommunications company announced its first labor law filings. 2013, 2015, 2019 and 2021 were the hardest years for its workers, with more than 3,000 people losing their jobs.

Before the pandemic, Colman Deegan arrived to restart the telecommunications company, already almost mortally wounded. From 2020 to 2022, the Irish manager was unsure how to find the right solution, and Vodafone entrusted Nick Reid with trying to resuscitate the business, which was already facing condemnation. During his tenure, the company was looking for a partner to create joint venture and MásMóvil were close to signing an agreement. Finally, the courtship of Orange took place in anticipation of a marriage awaiting the blessing of Brussels.

It is the choice of a foreign profile, to the detriment of a Spanish CEO who knew the national market, that is one of the main reasons for the drift that Vodafone has undertaken, as internal company sources detailed to this newspaper. In fact, the unions formally demanded that a Spanish CEO be found, but this ultimately did not happen.

Vodafone’s decline was completed when Vodafone’s parent company CEO Margherita Della Valle assured that the company had subjected the Spanish subsidiary to a “strategic review” a few months ago. after almost 80 billion euros of investment in Spain and the trail of lost customers.