NTT DoCoMo has confirmed speculation it is to acquire a 26 percent stake in India’s Tata Teleservices for approximately US$2.7 billion. Japan’s largest mobile operator also said it expects to make “an open offer” to acquire up to 20 percent of Tata Teleservices Maharashtra Ltd, another Tata Group company, through a joint offer with Tata Sons. The move into the world’s second-largest mobile market is set to be DoCoMo’s biggest deal in about eight years. According to Wireless Intelligence, Tata Teleservices is India’s sixth-largest mobile operator with a customer base of 27 million by end Q2, 2008. Meanwhile, DoCoMo also today said it may sell about JPY100 billion in bonds by the end of March to help fund a share buyback and dividend payments (although this sale will not cover overseas investments).

NTT DoCoMo’s Indian move is deemed to be part of a wider overseas expansion strategy aimed at achieving 10 percent of its sales from foreign ventures in a decade. In June, the Japanese market-leader paid US$350 million for a 30 percent stake in Bangladesh’s third-largest mobile operator, Aktel, and in September invested US$10 million to acquire an 11.5 percent stake in Blue Ocean Wireless (BOW), an Irish company providing GSM services to the merchant maritime sector. Last month it unveiled a new strategic ‘action plan,’ in which it stated it would expand internationally but such growth would mainly be focused on the Asia-Pacific region. According to a Dow Jones Newswires report today, NTT DoCoMo’s president said the company may consider raising its stake in Tata Teleservices to more than 50 percent.