At those levels, he finds himself somewhat down the pecking order as the fifth largest shareholder overall and with far less sway, particularly given that Vodafone’s top investor Emirates Telecom holds 10pc of the shares and is understood to back management.
Nevertheless, Vodafone chief executive Nick Read was already under pressure and certainly can’t afford to be complacent. Niel may not have matched Drahi’s financial outlay, but his arrival on the register is a further indication that Britain’s mobile champion is ripe for a break up.
Firstly, Niel, like Drahi, is a serial dealmaker, which means the likelihood of him being little more than a passive observer in proceedings seems slim. That much is clear from the statement that Atlas put out anyway, which talked in general terms about “opportunities to accelerate both the streamlining of Vodafone’s footprint”, as well as cut costs, improve profits and accelerate broadband development in Germany.
The share price rose just 1.5pc, indicating that the City anticipated a shake-up but nothing more radical than that. That may be naive.
Likewise, Niel’s description of himself as “a major long-term investor in the telecoms sector” is somewhat disingenuous. He had a brief and costly dalliance with Telecom Italia options a few years ago that was anything but long-term.
The bulk of his estimated €8bn-plus fortune has been built on the back of French telecoms outfit Iliad, which he founded in 1990, so in that sense he can demonstrate durability but that doesn’t mean Niel’s not a disruptor too.
Iliad itself is proof of that, having grown from nothing to become an €11bn broadband and mobile giant, with 50m subscribers including in Italy and Poland, and €10bn in turnover, by aggressively under-cutting more established rivals on price.
The Vodafone board is likely to be more alert. It knows that Niel is a tricky customer, having received a takeover bid for its Italian arm from Iliad earlier in the year. With the two sides miles apart on price, talks about a joint venture eventually collapsed and were followed by a last-ditch, yet ultimately, futile attempt by Neil to pressure Vodafone into selling up.
But regardless of Niel’s true intentions, there is no denying Vodafone has been treading water for years. A share price that has gone nowhere in 35 years is testament enough to the chronic underperformance that has plagued one of the FTSE’s biggest names.
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