CNBC's Jim Cramer says Vodafone would be the clear winner—at least for now—if it succeeds in selling its 45 percent stake in the Verizon Wireless joint venture.
Verizon shares rallied strongly on the news Thursday, closing up 2.71 percent. (Click here to see where Verizon shares are trading now.)
"This is an exciting deal because Verizon will look very different," Cramer said on "Squawk on the Street."
(Read more: Verizon, Vodafonediscuss possible $130 billion deal)
But although the company would have new operational opportunities with complete ownership of the joint wireless arm, "people are getting too excited about Verizon here," Cramer said. He cited increased competition in the wireless market and noted that when the stock of an acquiring company jumps higher in premarket trading as was the case with Verizon on Thursday, that often signals the stock will recede in later trading.
"If you really like Verizon, you'll get a better chance" to buy it later, he said.
Recently, Verizon was trading down because of a rising yield on the 10-year Treasury and cut-throat competition from companies like T-Mobile, which has been gaining market share.
On the other hand, Cramer said that "Vodafone seems really attractive to me here, because the stub of what's left is way too cheap. Vodafone makes sense to go higher."
(Click here to see where the British telecom shares are trading now)
He added that with improving economic indicators in Europe, Vodafone is a "great way" to play the economic recovery. "Vodafone has some great assets that have been really undervalued because Europe has been bad," he said. "If we were over in London, I think we'd be very excited about Vodafone and what the implications are for the new Vodafone. That's a buy."
"If you think Europe is coming back, like I do, Vodafone is a great way to play it," he added.
