UBS Warburg has managed to place a sizeable slug of Vodafone shares into the open market without having to offer them at a deep discount.

The deal is a coup for Swisscom, the Swiss telecom firm which has managed to offload its stake in Vodafone without having to offer the shares at a bargain-basement price. It is also good news for Vodafone, which saw its share price relatively unscathed by the transaction.