Vodafone wins full control of India division

Global mobile phone giant Vodafone has taken full control of its Indian subsidiary in deals worth £1.0 billion ($1.7 billion, 1.2 billion euros), it confirmed on Friday. "Vodafone announces that it now owns 100 percent of its Indian subsidiary, Vodafone India Limited (VIL)," the group said in a statement. The company added it completed a deal in March to lift its VIL stake from 84.5 percent to 89.03 percent, after buying a stake from Analjit Singh and Neelu Analjit Singh. And on Friday it acquired the remaining 10.97 percent from Piramal Enterprises Ltd. The combined cash consideration for both transactions was 101.418 billion rupees or £1.0 billion, it added Friday. Vodafone, which is still flush with cash from the sale of its US joint venture stake to partner Verizon for $130 billion, had last month snapped up Spanish cable firm Ono. Analysts praised the latest deal as a "positive" development for the group. "We see this as a positive for Vodafone, who are effectively deploying the cash from the Verizon deal, having also recently closed a deal to purchase Ono in Spain," said analysts at Dublin-based Dolmen Stockbrokers. "Expansion in a growth economy like India plays into the secular theme of the expanding middle class, and their increasing amount of disposable income." In morning deals however, Vodafone shares fell 0.87 percent to 215.95 pence on London's FTSE 100 index, which was down 1.01 percent at 6,574.52 points. In July 2013, India decided to allow full foreign ownership in telecommunication companies and ease overseas investment rules for several other sectors, as the government aimed to attract long-term foreign investment to boost sagging economic growth.