Vodafone Group has reached a binding agreement to acquire 100% of Skaylink GmbH for €175 million (roughly €200 million in rounded figures). The deal — subject to regulatory approvals — is expected to close by the end of March 2026 and aligns with Vodafone Business’s strategy to grow in managed services, cloud, and cybersecurity.
Who is Skaylink and Why Is It of Interest to Vodafone
Skaylink is a European provider of cloud services, digital transformation, and security, with more than 500 professionals and presence in Germany and other countries across the continent. The company is known for its expertise in multicloud deployment and migration — especially in Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services (AWS) — and for implementing AI solutions for businesses.
Integrating these capabilities enables Vodafone to deepen value beyond connectivity, offering enterprise and public sector clients an expanded portfolio of consulting, application modernization, infrastructure management, observability, and end-to-end security services.
Key Aspects of the Deal
- Price and Scope: acquisition of 100% of Skaylink for €175 million.
- Talent and Specialization: Over 500 experts in Azure and AWS, focusing on applied AI for business.
- Strategy: strengthening Vodafone Business in cloud, managed services, and cybersecurity to drive growth.
- Timeline: expected close before March 2026, pending regulatory approvals.
Benefits for Customers
- A single point of contact for connectivity, multicloud (Azure/AWS), security, and managed services.
- Accelerated modernization: migration of workloads, CI/CD automation, data governance, and AI adoption following best practices.
- European reach: regional support with compliance standards and sovereignty tailored to each market.
Strategic Perspective: Telcos Moving Up the Value Chain
This acquisition affirms a sector trend: telecommunications companies are diversifying into higher-margin services — cloud, security, data, and AI — to support clients’ digital transformation and capture recurring revenue beyond connectivity. In this context, Skaylink provides ready-to-integrate capabilities within Vodafone’s offerings and commercial traction in Germany, one of Europe’s most demanding enterprise markets.
What to Watch Before Closure
- Regulatory Approvals and closing conditions.
- Integration Model: maintaining the brand/team and fitting within Vodafone Business.
- Unified Portfolio: specific packages for managed security, multicloud management, and AI services tailored to public-private verticals.
Sources
Official Vodafone announcement on the acquisition of Skaylink.