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Technology Stocks : Vodafone (VOD) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: David Wiggins who wrote (95)	6/13/1999 6:44:00 PM
From: MrGreenJeans	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 109

Vodafone gears up for Asian buying spree (From The Observer, London) Jamie Doward Sunday June 13, 1999 Vodafone, the largest UK mobile phone network, which last week announced pre-tax profits of £935 million, is to use some of its cash to fund an aggressive acquisitions policy in South Asia and the Far East. The company is completing its merger with US telecommunications operator AirTouch, which has a number of strategic stakes in these regions. It is believed that Vodafone intends to exploit these interests first. In Japan, AirTouch has stakes in two mobile network operators: some 14 per cent of the Digital Phone Group and 4.5 per cent of Digital TU-KA. In South Korea, the US firm has an 11 per cent stake in Shinsegi Telecommunications. It also has stakes in two companies in India - 20 per cent of RPG Cellular and 49 per cent of RPG Cellcom. Sources close to Vodafone say chief executive Chris Gent has expressed a wish to enlarge these minority stakes. He is also understood to have spelt out his interest in seeking new acquisitions in Far Eastern countries. Gent reportedly declared his interest in Japan last week, but the true size and reach of his ambitions is likely to take analysts by surprise. The merger with AirTouch will catapult Vodafone into fourth place in the world league of mobile phone companies, with 14 million subscribers. However the scope of the predicted acquisitions spree could see Vodafone soon start to rival the world's largest, China Telecom, which has nearly 25 million. The sources said that the company's decision to target Asia as a continent ripe for expansion was given impetus by Cable & Wireless's successful bid for Japanese carrier IDC. 'That deal was seen as something of a watershed for UK telecommunications companies in Japan because it showed they could penetrate the market successfully.' one said. In addition to the company's intention to become a major presence in Asia and the Far East, Vodafone also wants to develop its interests in eastern Europe. The merger with AirTouch has given it membership of a consortium called Primatel, which is bidding against Orange and a German group for Hungary's third mobile phone licence. An announcement on who has won it was expected last week, but was postponed. Sources in Hungary say the Primatel consortium raised its bid by 60 per cent a few days ago, and that it has emerged as the clear favourite to win the licence.