LONDON (Reuters) – French billionaire telecoms executive Xavier Niel, the founder and majority owner of Iliad, has bought a 2.5% stake in Britain’s Vodafone through an investment vehicle.

The vehicle – Atlas Investissement – said Vodafone was an “attractive investment opportunity, as per the quality of its assets portfolio and the solid underlying trends in the global telecommunications sector”.

It said it was supportive of Vodafone’s publicly-stated intention to pursue consolidation opportunities, as well as its efforts in infrastructure separation.

(Reporting by Paul Sandle; editing by James Davey)