South Africa's Vodacom says in talks to acquire Tata's Neotel

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African mobile operator Vodacom Group said on Monday it had entered exclusive talks to acquire fixed-line operator Neotel from India's Tata Communications.

Acquiring Neotel, which is majority owned by Tata, would be a major boost to Vodacom's ambitions to grow its data business in Africa's largest economy. Vodacom is a unit of Britain's Vodafone Group Plc .

Vodacom said it was looking to acquire 100 percent of Neotel and any shareholder loan claims.

It did not give a potential value for the deal.

Vodacom shares were down 1.6 percent at 1359 GMT, compared with a 1 percent decline by the Johannesburg's benchmark Top-40 index <.JTOPI>.

 

(Reporting by Helen Nyambura-Mwaura; editing by David Dolan)