NTT DoCoMo Increases Stake in Philippine Long Distance Telephone

(Business News & Technology News, 23 Jan 2008)

NTT DoCoMo Inc. has announced that during the period from March 2007 through January 22, 2008, the company has raised its stake in Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), the largest telecommunications company in the Philippines, to 13.34 percent of the outstanding common stock of PLDT. During this period, DoCoMo acquired 12,532,214 additional shares of common stock of PLDT, or 6.64 percent of the outstanding common stock of PLDT, for 86.7 billion Japanese yen, or about $760 million.

The combined holdings of DoCoMo and NTT Communications Corp., a sister company in the NTT Group, are now 20.03 percent of the outstanding common stock of PLDT.

DoCoMo, beginning with its initial acquisition of 12,633,486 shares of PLDT (6.7 percent of the outstanding common stock of PLDT) from NTT Communications in March 2006, has been steadily increasing its stake as part of the building of its comprehensive partnership with PLDT. The increased stake also enables DoCoMo to book the investment using the equity method and reclassify PLDT as an affiliate.

The investment also strengthens DoCoMo's business tie-up with Smart Communications Inc. (SMART), PLDT's wholly-owned mobile communications subsidiary. Working with SMART, DoCoMo intends to develop mutually beneficial technologies and services, including international roaming between Japan and the Philippines.

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