Vodafone has sold 44% of its stakes to the French mobile phone group SFR to partner Vivendi, in a new deal. The new deal has been welcomed by the investors. Some analysts believe that the deal could lead to a merger between the Vodafone and US group Verizon.

Vodafone has also signed a deal with Vivendi which will enable the company to provide its services into France for its consumer and business customers.

The Chief of Vivendi, Jean-Bernard Levy, has made the deal a top priority to increase the company's cash flows. The deal is expected to increase the exposure of the company to both telecoms and its home market in France. The deal would increase the net income of the company for the year 2011 by 15% to 18%.

The deal was announced on Sunday. Under the new deal t Vivendi would pay $7.95 Billion to take over SFR. The deal has lead to an increase of 4 points to the FTSE 100 index. The index rose from 13.34 points to 6023.26, overnight. On Monday the shares of Vodafone were traded at a higher point as compared to Vivendi’s shares.