Vodafone extends share in Vodacom

According to the Times Online, Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) is moving closer to gaining control of South Africa’s leading Mobile Network Operator, Vodacom, in a deal that will cost it about £1.4bn. Vodafone’s current partner, Telkom, will sell 15% of it’s stake, which would push Vodafone’s share up to 65%.

It’s interesting to see the strategies of the Tier 1 Operator groups now – recognising the stagnation in the developed markets, there is much activity in both the M&A (merger and acquisition) space, and also expansion in to the “developing countries” (by developing countries, I mean those making leaps and bounds in IT dev, and in some cases leapfrogging developed countries!).

In Vodafone’s case, they are have the opportunity to increase their footprint in a key region that is surely going to explode with further Telecoms development over the coming years.

[Via: Times Online]