A leading investor group lent its support yesterday to a key plank of the “value-releasing” plans put forward by the rebel shareholder stalking Vodafone.

Pirc said that a proposal by Efficient Capital Structures to force Vodafone to shake up its holding of Verizon Wireless, its joint venture in the United States, “has raised an important question . . . [one] which has not been answered by the company”.

Pirc, which is advising investors to abstain from voting on the proposal – rather than to back the Vodafone board by opposing it – had concerns, too, it said, that Vodafone’s executive directors were “highly incentivised” to hold on to the 45 per cent holding in Verizon Wireless rather than see it spun-off, as the rebels have suggested.

A spin-out, it said, could “reduce the chances of directors vesting their share options”.

The Pirc comments came as Arun Sarin, Vodafone’s chief executive, risked uproar in India by claiming that rival operators had sought to “derail” the British group’s $11.1 billion takeover of Hutchison Essar, India’s fourth-largest operator, earlier this year by meddling with the regulatory approvals process.

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