12:02 PM EDT, 05/14/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Vodafone Group ( VOD ) said Tuesday it has received final approval from Spanish authorities for its planned sale of Vodafone Spain to Zegona Communications.

The company said it expects to complete the transaction at the end of May, after which it will receive 4.1 billion euros ($4.44 billion) in cash and 900 million euros in redeemable preference shares.

Meanwhile, Vodafone also said it intends to start an initial 500 million-euro share buyback program on Wednesday as part of its plan to return 2 billion euros to shareholders over 12 months.

Shares of Vodafone Group ( VOD ) were up more than 4% in recent trading.

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