AS British politicians attempted Tuesday to reassure investors and businesspeople about the economics effects of a Brexit, one of Britain’s biggest corporate giants said it may move its headquarters out of the country because of the vote.

    Vodafone Group, the world’s second-largest mobile carrier by subscribers after China Mobile Ltd., said the long-term location of its global headquarters was now in doubt because of the uncertainties over how and when Britain would disentangled itself from the European Union, after the country voted for breaking away last week.

    As markets grapple with the ramifications of Britain’s referendum result for the global economy, and with the political tumult the vote has sparked in the U.K., attention is turning to the deal the U.K. must negotiate with the EU to allow it to continue to benefit from free trade across the bloc.

    For Vodafone, the timeline of those talks is too long and uncertain for the company to guarantee Britain would remain its home.

    Vodafone said in a statement late Tuesday that it gained many benefits through the U.K.’s EU membership, including the bloc’s free movement of people and the benefits of a single legal framework throughout Europe.

    The company said it wasn’t yet possible to gauge how these positive attributes of EU membership would be affected after the U.K. leaves the EU, a process that could take two years or more, making it impossible “to draw any firm conclusions regarding the long-term location for the headquarters of the group,” Vodafone said.

    “We will continue to evaluate the situation and will take whatever decisions are appropriate in the interests of our customers, shareholders and employees,” it said.

    Vodafone said a “very large majority” of its 462 million customers, 108,000 employees and 15,000 suppliers were based outside the U.K., where it has offices in Newbury, England, and London. It said 55 percent of its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization came from Europe, excluding the U.K.

    Vodafone has hinted for months that it would consider relocating should the U.K. leave the EU. (SD-Agencies)