LONDON (Reuters) - Verizon Communications <VZ.N> would like to buy out Vodafone <VOD.L> from their Wireless joint venture but will not do so at any cost, its chief executive has told JP Morgan analysts, In a note to clients, analyst Philip Cusick said Verizon boss Lowell McAdam had said he did not believe a premium would be required to buy Vodafone's 45 percent stake in the highly successful Verizon Wireless business, because Verizon already had control through its 55 percent holding.

LONDON (Reuters) - Shares in Vodafone rose 1.5 percent in early trade on Thursday after two sources said its joint venture partner in the United States, Verizon Communications, was working on a $100 billion bid to take full control of the asset. The two sources familiar with the situation said Verizon had hired advisers to prepare a possible cash and stock bid to buy out Vodafone's 45 percent stake in the highly successful business.

By Alistair Smout LONDON (Reuters) - The FTSE 100 fell on Friday after a three-day rally, as investors backed away from riskier sectors and U.S. GDP figures came in below expectations. Material and energy stocks, which are sensitive to optimism over the global economic outlook, took 26 points off the FTSE 100, dragging the index into negative territory.

BARCELONA, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Vodafone says that it does not need to sell part of its stake in the highly profitable Verizon Wireless joint venture in the United States to bolster its position in Europe. Speaking to reporters at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Vodafone Chief Executive Vittorio Colao said that the British company had a healthy balance sheet and could invest when it needed to.