Essar to work alongside Vodafone
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Essar is keeping its 33% stake in Hutchison Essar after Vodafone bought out its partner, Hutchison Telecom.
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Mobile technology firm Nokia has  sealed a deal with operator Vodafone Group Plc on customizing  software for the operator's smartphones, the companies said in  a joint statement on Tuesday.
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British mobile phone giant Vodafone, grappling with intense competition in Europe, has tapped into the booming Indian economy after winning control of Hutchison Essar for 11.1 billion dollars.
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Shares in Vodafone Group PLC rose Monday as the market reacted positively to the weekend move by the world's largest mobile telephone company to gain control of Hutchison Essar India Ltd.
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Vodafone could pay up to $10bn (&pound;4.9bn) to take full control of Vodacom, South Africa&#39;s largest mobile group.
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Vodafone Group Plc has selected the former UK incumbent, BT Group Plc, as its fixed-line partner as the world's largest mobile operator catches up with its rivals and starts to offer its UK consumer base a broadband offering.
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(InfoWorld) - British mobile services operator Vodafone Group will acquire a majority stake in Hutchison Essar, winning aÂ heated bid for controlÂ of the Indian mobile services operator. Vodafone announced late Sunday that it has agreed to acquire companies that control a 67 percent stake in Hutchison Essar from Hutchison Telecommunications International, a subsidiary of Hong Kong's Hutchison Whampoa. Hutchison Telecommunications holds a majority stake in Hutchison Essar both directly and through a joint venture company in which Indian partners hold shares. Vodafone will pay $11.1 billion in cash for the acquisition, along with assuming $2 billion in debt, through its subsidiary Vodafone International Holdings. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of this year, and is conditional to Indian regulatory approval, it said. Hutchison's decision came over the weekend, after it evaluated bids from four key contenders including Indian mobile services provider Reliance Communications, the Hinduja Group of the U.K., and Indiaâs Essar Group, which holds 33 percent in Hutchison Essar, according to informed sources. Vodafone will offer to acquire the Essar Groupâs stake at the same price per share it is offering Hutchison, the company said. Indian regulations however do not allow foreign operators to hold more than 74 percent of the equity in an Indian telecommunications service provider. If the Essar Group sells its stake, Hutchisonâs local partners, which together have a 15 percent interest in Hutchison Essar, will increase their interest to 26 percent, Vodafone said. The Essar Group said in its statement late Sunday that it was evaluating an offer from Vodafone to be a partner. The Essar Group has the option to continue as an equity holder in Hutchison Essar or sell its stake along with Hutchison Telecommunications. Vodafone has been seeking Hutchisonâs stake since December last year, and in January the companyâs CEO,Â Arun Sarin visited India to press its caseÂ with the Indian government and business partners here. India is adding over 6 million new mobile subscribers every month. Hutchison Essar had 23.3 million customers as of December 31, 2006, which gave it a 16.4 percent market share. Vodafone also offered Sunday to sell its stake of 5.6 percent in Bharti Airtel, also a large Indian mobile services operator, to another company of the Bharti Group for $1.6 billion, double the price for which itÂ acquired the stake in 2005. It also announced a memorandum of understanding with Bharti Airtel for infrastructure sharing with Hutchison Essar.
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British telecoms giant Vodafone has said it had signed the first European deal with MySpace to allow its mobile phone subscribers to access the social networking website.
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(InfoWorld) - India's Essar Group will remain as a key shareholder in Indian mobile services provider Hutchison Essar, but will likely negotiate stronger minority shareholder rights with Vodafone Group, which Sunday announced it wasÂ acquiring a controlling 67 percent stakeÂ in the company. Essar Group does not intend to exit Hutchison Essar, and will run the company together with Vodafone, Essar Group Vice Chairman Ravi Ruia told reporters late Thursday after Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin met him in Mumbai. The terms for cooperation between Essar and Vodafone were laid out later in a statement from the Essar Group. "We will ensure that all of our shareholder rights, including under our shareholders' agreement with Hutchison, are adhered to," Essar Group said late Thursday. This gives the Essar Group theÂ right of first refusal to the proposed saleÂ of its equity by Hutchison Telecommunications International Ltd. (HTIL), according to informed sources. This right does not apply to the sale to Vodafone, Sarin told reporters this week. But the Essar Group could tie down Vodafone in protracted litigation. It is more likely to use this clause in the shareholder agreement with HTIL to negotiate a more favorable shareholder agreement with Vodafone, the sources said. The Essar Group holds 33 percent in Hutchison Essar. Vodafone has said it would prefer Essar stayed as a partner, but if it chose to exit it would offer to buy its stake for the same price per share it is offering HTIL. Essar hasn't entirely ruled out divesting from Hutchison Essar. Vodafone has approached Essar to discuss a possible partnership as regards Hutchison Essar, the Essar Group said in its statement. It will decide its future course of action in due course and in the best interests of the Essar group, it added.
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British operator Vodafone announced Monday at the industry's annual trade show in Barcelona that it would launch a money transfer service in Afghanistan after the successful introduction of a similar initiative in Kenya.
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InfoWorld - India&#39;s Essar Group will remain as a key shareholder in Indian mobile services provider Hutchison Essar, but will likely negotiate stronger minority shareholder rights with Vodafone Group, which Sunday announced it was&#160;acquiring a controlling 67 percent stake&#160;in the company.
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Telecom giant Vodafone has said it will invest more than two billion dollars in a drive to make its new Indian purchase, Hutchison Essar, the country's biggest mobile phone company.
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Vodafone buys a controlling stake in Indian mobile phone firm Hutchison Essar for $11bn (Â£5.7bn).
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Mobile phone giant Vodafone Group   confirmed on Monday its plan to enter Britain's  cut-throat fixed-line broadband Internet market via a deal with  the wholesale arm of telecoms firm BT Group .
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Nokia said Wednesday that it had reached a deal with Vodafone that brings some of the latest and greatest mobile phones exclusively to the carrier.
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British mobile-phone giant Vodafone's purchase of a 11.1-billion-dollar stake in India's Hutchison Essar has been welcomed by local contenders, smoothing its entry into the world's fastest-growing wireless market.
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Vodafone is putting its substantial weight behind a 3G push by offering ten handsets in the run up to Christmas. From November the firm will sell handsets from manufacturers including Samsung, Sharp, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, NEC and Nokia.