It was confirmed last night that Vodafone has bought a 67% stake in Indian mobile phone firm Hutchison Essar for $11.1bn (€8.523 billion).
The deal gives Vodafone access to India's rapidly growing mobile phone market, where Essar has a share of about 16%.
Shares in Vodafone climbed more than 1% to 151p in London after it beat rival suitors for India's fourth-biggest mobile phone firm.
The deal was a high-stakes move by Vodafone chief executive Arun Sarin, who is under pressure from slowing growth in the firm's core European markets, but has also been warned by investors not to overpay for acquisitions.
Vodafone, the world's biggest mobile phone firm by subscribers outside China, is a serial acquirer and its €180 billion purchase of Germany's Mannesmann in 2000 was the biggest company takeover in history.
Vodafone said its purchase of Hutchison Telecommunications' 67% stake in Hutchison Essar valued the Indian firm at $18.8 billion (€13.9 bn), including debt.
