Vodafone has announced itself as a “pan-European champion of competition” as it agreed an €18.4bn (£16.1bn) takeover of Liberty Global cable networks across Germany and central Europe.

Chief executive Vittorio Colao urged regulators to allow the creation of “a strong and sustainable challenger to dominant incumbent operators”. The takeover is his biggest move yet in a grand scheme to transform Vodafone from a pure mobile operator into a leading provider of home broadband capable of standing up to the likes Deutsche Telekom.

If approved by competition watchdogs in Brussels, the acquisition of Liberty Global assets in Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania, will catapult Vodafone to the top of the table of European broadband providers. Its own networks will cover 54 million homes across the continent and wholesale deals with other operators will take its total coverage to 110 million premises.

The price was around €2bn lower than most analysts were expecting, which triggered a 1.4pc rise in Vodafone shares. Analysts at JP Morgan said the bill was “much better than feared” for Vodafone.

It expects to strip €6bn costs as it integrates the Liberty Global networks, and will fund the deal from a mix of cash reserves, new debt and mandatory convertible bonds. The €3bn issue will be converted into stock that Vodafone will have the right to repurchase and avoid diluting existing shareholders.