Vodafone buys majority stake in Ghana phone group for £450m

Vodafone has snapped up a controlling stake in Ghana's third-largest mobile phone company for $900m (£450m) as the world's largest mobile phone operator continues to hunt for growth in emerging markets. It acquired the 70% stake in Ghana Telecommunications, also the country's largest fixed-line operator, from the government as part of the company's privatisation. The government is retaining the rest but said previously that it would be floated on the local stockmarket. The move is the latest by Vodafone to buy operations in fast-growing emerging markets as its traditional operations in western Europe face intense competition and regulatory pressure over pricing. Over the past three years it has bought businesses in Turkey and India, and last month offered £1.2bn to seize control of its South African joint venture, Vodacom,... [read full story]