New York, Feb 29: Britain-based Vodafone Group Plc, currently headed by Indian-American Arun Sarin, is considering acquiring a company in India at an appropriate time. Sarin said Vodafone would try to acquire companies in France as well as Russia and other East European nations if it could buy at the right prices, according to a financial journal.
For the longer term, he indicated Vodafone would consider an acquisition in India, following a withdrawal from that country last year, another daily reported.
''It's a large market, so we can't ignore it,'' he told the newspaper in an interview, adding that ''my view is it is going to have to consolidate more”.
The company s joint venture with Verizon Communications Inc. almost came to an end earlier this month, when the British multinational tried to buy AT&T Wireless Services Inc., a move that would have compelled it to pull out of its Verizon joint venture Verizon Wireless. Vodafone has 45 percent stake in Verizon Wireless.
Sarin criticized Cingular wireless for paying 41 billion dollars for AT&T Wireless – America’s third largest wireless company -- saying Cingular lacked Vodafone’s financial discipline.
Vodafone had reportedly offered 38 billion dollars as bid price. Sarin expressed his unwillingness to comment on the figure. Bureau Report