Mobile phone giant Vodafone AirTouch says it has secured 60.3% of Mannesmann's capital, and has declared its offer for the German company wholly unconditional.

The announcement follows last week's agreement by Mannesmann to accept Vodafone's record-breaking £112bn bid.

Trading in the new Vodafone shares to be issued in exchange for Mannesmann shares began in London on Thursday.

The London Stock Exchange had announced special measures to deal with an anticipated avalanche of trade in Vodafone.

Dealers had predicted a surge of demand as many index tracker funds were now permitted to buy the heavyweight stock to reflect the increased weighting the enlarged company will have in the FTSE 100 index.

It is expected to account for about 15% of the index.

However, Vodafone shares fell 2.5% as the market slumped because of falls on Wall Street and the prospect of a rise in UK interest rates.

The Deutsche Boerse said on Wednesday that it planned to remove Mannesmann from the Dax 30 index within the next couple of days. It will be replaced by Epcos.

The combined group will be Europe's telecommunications leader and the deal seals Vodafone's position as the world's major mobile telephone operator.