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

To: MrGreenJeans who wrote (3132)	4/30/2001 9:47:07 PM
From: MrGreenJeans	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3175

BT to sell telecoms stakes in Japan to rival Vodafone By Michiyo Nakamoto in Tokyo and Dan Roberts in London Published: April 30 2001 19:54GMT \| Last Updated: May 1 2001 00:39GMT British Telecommunications has agreed to sell its hard-won foothold in Japan in the second high-profile sacrifice stemming from its £30bn ($43bn) debt problem. BT is expected within days to announce a deal to sell its stakes in Japan Telecom and J-Phone to arch-rival Vodafone for more than £3bn. Less than a week after the resignation of chairman Sir Iain Vallance, the retreat from what the company recently singled out as a core market will come as a blow to Sir Peter Bonfield, BT's chief executive. He has staked much of his reputation on support for the Japanese investment. However, the cash from the sale may reduce pressure to launch a widely-anticipated rights issue that BT is also planning. The deal will also put Vodafone in a position to take full control of J-Phone, Japan Telecom's highly-regarded mobile phone subsidiary. Only on Monday the UK mobile phone giant completed an earlier purchase of 10 per cent of Japan Telecom from AT&T of the US for $1.35bn. BT's withdrawal comes just two weeks after it negotiated options to buy 5 per cent stakes in J-Phone's operating subsidiaries from Japan Telecom. Those purchases were seen as a sign of BT's resolve to stay in Japan, and caused dismay among shareholders who were looking for a withdrawal. The sale comes just two years after BT invested £1.2bn in Japan Telecom, together with AT&T, and gained a foothold into Japan's advanced mobile market. As a result of BT's sell-off, Vodafone will now raise its stake in Japan Telecom from 25 per cent to 45 per cent, and its 26 per cent holding in J-Phone to 46 per cent. Vodafone will also acquire BT's 5 per cent stakes in the three regional mobile phone operating companies making up the J-Phone group. An announcement is expected to come as early as on Tuesday. The enhanced presence of Vodafone in J-Phone, in particular, is likely to raise expectations of a more aggressive strategy, which could put it on a collision course with other Japanese shareholders. JT's share price closed at ¥2.06m last Friday, the last day of trading before Japan's Golden Week holidays. The increased stake gives Vodafone greater leeway in its efforts to compete with NTT DoCoMo, which is Japan's largest mobile phone operator but behind Vodafone in global terms. Vodafone is understood to be impatient with J-Phone's failure to compete more aggressively with DoCoMo in Japan. J-Phone has cutting edge technology and innovative products and is highly profitable, but the company is tiny compared with NTT DoCoMo, which has a 60 per cent market share, well above J-Phone's share of about 16 per cent.