Companies Vodafone could be ripe for shake-up by activist investor Elliott Management Elliott has taken a stake in Vodafone as it battles intense competition in Europe and is taking over Liberty Global’s German and eastern European businesses BL PREMIUM

London — A weak share price, a fragile dividend and a switch of CEOs: conditions at Vodafone Group may be ripe for a shake-up by US activist investor Elliott Management. A report that Elliott has taken a stake in the world’s second-largest wireless carrier comes at a critical time for Vodafone, which is battling intense competition in Europe and trying to rescue its share price from an eight-year low. Outgoing CEO Vittorio Colao spent the past decade shifting Vodafone from a predominantly mobile carrier with sprawling global investments to one that is more focused on Europe and also offers bundled internet services. This has required investing in fibre networks and has put pressure on the company’s ability to return cash to shareholders. Keeping those shareholders on side is a top priority for Nick Read, who succeeds Colao in October, and who is charged with seeing through a $22bn take-over of Liberty Global’s German and eastern European businesses. Representatives for Vodafone, the...