Done deal?
biz.yahoo.com
<<Docomo to buy 15% of KPN Mobile for Y500 bln-paper
TOKYO, May 9 (Reuters) - Top Japanese cell phone carrier NTT Docomo is in the final stage of talks to acquire a stake of about 15 percent in Dutch carrier KPN Mobile for about 500 billion yen, a Japanese newspaper reported on Tuesday.
Teaming up with KPN Mobile, a unit of KPN Telecom NV , is expected to pave the way for NTT Docomo to make a joint bid to take over British cellular phone operator Orange Plc (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: ORA.L), which Germany's Mannesmann AG has to sell because of its merger with Vodafone AirTouch PLC (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: VOD.L), Nihon Keizai Shimbun said.
NTT Docomo said it could not make any immediate comment.
On Monday, KPN Telecom declined to comment on mounting speculation it was in talks with at least four possible partners with Japan's largest cell phone group NTT Docomo topping the list.
On Monday, credit ratings agency Standard & Poor's Corp placed its long-term ratings on Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp (NTT) and its subsidiary NTT Docomo on CreditWatch with negative implications.
The CreditWatch placements follow the announcement that NTT's wholly owned subsidiary, NTT Communications Corp (NTT-C), has entered into a merger agreement to acquire all shares of Verio Inc, a U.S.-based Internet service provider. At the same time, Standard & Poor's affirmed its short-term ratings on NTT and NTT Docomo, which were not placed on CreditWatch.
NTT Docomo's shares were at 3.86 million yen at Monday's close in Tokyo.>>
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