Colao - a rich boy in the sweet shop Previous chief executives Arun Sarin (Vodafone) and Ivan Seidenberg (Verizon) had a famously prickly relationship, two porcupines many thought were trapped in a loveless marriage. Mr Colao and Verizon's chief executive, Lowell McAdam, should be congratulated for patching up the companies" differences and discussing a deal not coloured by age-old enmities. Business is not supposed to be a facsimile of West Side Story. The Vodafone chief executive is revealing himself to be a "good seller." The Verizon stake was valued at just $58bn in 2011 and the overall value of Verizon Wireless has quadrupled since the beginning of the decade. Verizon Wireless contributes half of Vodafone's operating income, some $9.7bn in fiscal year 2013 before impairments. Mr Colao was right to hold out until Verizon became a more willing buyer, ready to go above the $100bn mooted value at the beginning of the year. The US giant knows it needs to move before interest rates creep upwards if it is to have any hope of financing such a major deal. The Federal Reserve is not going to maintain such benign credit conditions forever. Although predictions of immediate riches must be tempered by the fact that much of the bounty will come in stages, the question now is whether Mr Colao is a smart buyer. The deal is likely to crystalise a considerable war chest for Vodafone even after welcome special payments to investors (many of whom are UK pension funds) and a paydown of the business's debt. Mr Colao will have to be cautious - walk into a sweet shop with your pockets bulging with money and you often end up overpaying for the wrong thing. Although Vodafone's price discipline in its deals to buy the UK division of Cable and Wireless Communications and TelstraClear in New Zealand was welcome, eyebrows have been raised at the punchy multiple the business paid for its recent acquisition of Kabel Deutschland. There has been speculation that Vodafone may bid for the Spanish cable business, ONO, Fastweb in Italy or even look to acquire or go into a partnership deal with Liberty Global, the new owner of Virgin Media in the UK. Certainly, he will need to do something. Investors will want reassurance that the end of the US adventure will not leave Vodafone an undernourished, Europe-facing telecomms group ripe for takeover or break-up. In the fast-moving world of "quad play" telecommunications (broadband, television, telephone and wireless) standing still only makes you a target for others. Verizon is a name conjured from the words "veritas" and "horizon." Mr Colao will need to keep both words in mind when he considers Vodafone's journey without its lucrative American partnership.