Vodafone said Wednesday it won’t sell its stake in Verizon Wireless.

    The British company owns a 45 percent stake in Verizon Wireless and had an option to sell up to $10 billion of it to Verizon Communications Inc. By declining to sell, Vodafone ends recent speculation about what it would do with its U.S. arm.

    Vodafone said it was the final option it had in the agreement with Verizon to sell the stake. The company’s shareholders voted last month to keep the state.

    Verizon Communications owns the other 55 percent of Verizon Wireless, which has been valued at around $45 billion by analysts.