Vodafone in talks to sell Japan Telecom for £1.5bn

The mobile phone operator Vodafone yesterday confirmed it was in talks to sell the fixed-line operation of its Japanese business as it puts the finishing touches to its offer to buy up the remaining shares in its Swedish and Portuguese units.

Vodafone, which owns 66.7 per cent of Japan Telecom Holdings, said discussions to sell the Japanese business' wholly-owned fixed-line telecoms business – Japan Telecom – had begun.

Potential buyers, including the US venture capital firm Ripplewood, are thought to be lining up offers of about $2.5bn (£1.52bn) for the fixed-line business.

The move came as little surprise to City analysts who had expected Vodafone to exit its fixed-line operations in Japan, leaving it to concentrate on its mobile phone operation there called J-Phone.

Analysts at Cazenove said: "Vodafone's strategy has always been to focus on its mobile activities and sell its inherited fixed-line divisions where possible."

Vodafone, which is headed by Sir Christopher Gent, is also ultimately expected to sell its other fixed-line business in Germany, Arcor, which the group inherited as part of its purchase of Mannesmann.

However, a spokesman for Vodafone, whose shares rose 4.6 per cent to 113.75p, said that the operator was in no great hurry to sell either fixed-line business. "We're perfectly happy to continue owning it [Arcor]," he said, adding: "The same goes for Japan Telecom."

Vodafone also said yesterday that it had finalised the terms of its offer to buy up the shares it does not already own in Sweden's Europolitan Vodafone and Portugal's Vodafone Telecel-Comunicacoes Pessoais.

The operator is offering 47 Swedish kronor in cash for each Europolitan share and €8.50 in cash for each Telecel share in a move that will cost it up to €1.2bn (£790m). The deals are expected to complete by the end of next month.

Last month, Vodafone said it expected to pay Skr45 for each share in Europolitan, the Swedish business it currently owns 74.6 per cent of, and €8.50 for each share in Telecel, which it owns 61.4 per cent of.

The operator said yesterday that it was continuing discussions with Vodafone Libertel in the Netherlands but said there was no certainty that an offer would be tabled. Vodafone, which owns 77.6 per cent of Libertel, had previously said it planned to make a cash offer of €11 a share.

Separately, Vodafone also said that shareholders living in eurozone countries would, in future, receive dividends in euros rather than sterling. The move, which will affect about two-thirds of Vodafone's estimated 650,000 shareholders unless they opt to receive dividends in sterling, will start with the payment of the final dividend on 8 August.