Vodafone brushed off competing bids for the company's Japanese unit and announced a deal with SoftBank for $15.6 billion. Private U.S. equity firms Cerberus Partners and Providence Equity partners were scrambling to make a bid for the beleaguered unit, but a deal with SoftBank ensures a swift exit from the Japanese market and a quick return for investors. Vodafone said it will return $10.5 billion in cash to shareholders via a special dividend.

For more about Vodafone's sale of its Japanese unit:
- check out this article from Dow Jones