The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved the proposed acquisition by Atlas 2022 Holdings Limited to increase its voting rights/shareholding in Vodafone from 14.6% to less than 25% in Vodafone Group Plc.

Atlas 2022 Holdings Limited (Atlas) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Emirates Telecommunications Group Company PJSC (e&). Atlas was incorporated on 24^th February 2022, in the Cayman Islands, for the purposes of acquiring and holding e&’s current 14.6% interest in Vodafone.

e& is a telecommunications operator headquartered and based in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates which was previously known as Etisalat Group. e& provides services in various countries across the Middle East Asia and Africa. Neither Atlas nor e& has any physical presence in India (e& does not have any Indian subsidiaries). e& does not hold a licence to operate as a mobile network operator in India.

Vodafone Group Plc. (Vodafone) is a British telecommunications operator headquartered and based in Newbury, England. It provides mobile and fixed-line connectivity services, as well as connectivity products and services to customers predominantly across Europe, Africa and Asia. In India, Vodafone is active in the telecommunications sector through Vodafone Idea Limited (VI India) and its step-down subsidiaries. VI India offers mobile telephony services; broadband services; content and digital offerings (in partnership with various over-the-top apps and content creators); and various Value Add Services.

The proposed combination relates to Atlas’s proposed acquisition to increase its voting rights/shareholding in Vodafone from 14.6% to less than 25% in Vodafone Group Plc. in Vodafone through a series of on-market and/or off-market transactions (Proposed Combination).

Detailed order of the CCI will follow.

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NB/VM/KMN

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