NTT DoCoMo Inc will pay $2.7 billion for a 26 percent stake in Indian telecom Tata Teleservices, giving Japan's top mobile operator a foothold in the world's fastest-growing major mobile market. DoCoMo's deal with India's No 6 mobile operator follows a $350 million investment in Bangladesh's No 3 cellphone carrier, as it speeds up its expansion beyond a mature home market, and adds to the record $63 billion of overseas acquisitions by Japanese firms this year.
But as DoCoMo expands, salt-to-software conglomerate Tata Group - the parent of unlisted Tata Teleservices and the flagbearer for corporate India's recent overseas expansion - has put its plans for acquisitions on hold due to the global credit crisis. DoCoMo's bill for the 26 percent stake is almost equal to the $3 billion market value of Tata Tele's larger rival Idea Cellular. It gives Tata Teleservices a valuation of $10.4 billion, more than the $9 billion market cap of No 2 player Reliance Communications, which has almost double the user base of Tata Tele.
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