The shareholders of global telecom giant, Vodafone have voted to approve a £51 billion cash and shares deal to sell the company's American subsidiary Verizon Wireless.

The deal is expected to bring the largest return of value to investors ever. The deal has been approved by 99.61 per cent of votes cast and will move significant amount into the company. 490,000 small retail shareholders in the UK and Ireland besides a group of Vodafone's 250 most senior managers and directors will receive payments form the company. Under the deal, Vodafone shareholders worldwide will receive an estimated £15bn in cash and a further £36bn in the shares of Verizon Communications.

Leading American telecom carrier, Verizon said that it has agreed to 45 per cent stake in Verizon Wireless to take control of the venture. The deal, which has been on the planning board for Verizon for some time, will be among the largest purchases in the industry. Following the deal, the company will be able to fully incorporate all of its profit instead of relying on dividends.

The deal will allow Verizon to have a complete control over its wireless business including profit as advertisers, content distributors and wireless carriers move to smartphones and increase usage of mobile data and information services. It will be the third biggest takeover on record and might push for more such large scale deals.