Piramal Healthcare to Acquire Further 5.5% Stake in Vodafone Essar

Vodafone Group (“Vodafone”) and Piramal Healthcare (“Piramal”) today announced that Piramal has agreed to purchase approximately 5.5% of the issued equity share capital of Vodafone India Limited (“VIL”) from ETHL Communications Holdings Limited (“Essar”) for a cash consideration of approximately INR 30.07 billion (£385 million¹) taking Piramal’s total shareholding in VIL2 to approximately 11%.

The transaction follows the settlement between Vodafone and Essar over the sale of Essar’s approximately 33% stake in VIL, announced in July 2011, and the purchase by Piramal of approximately 5.5% of the issued share capital of VIL from Essar in August 2011. This completes the exit of the Essar group as a shareholder in VIL.

The transaction contemplates various exit mechanisms for Piramal, including both participation in a potential initial public offering of VIL and a sale of its stake to Vodafone.

For further information:

Vodafone Group

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Vodafone is one of the world's largest mobile communications companies by revenue with approximately 391 million customers in its controlled and jointly controlled markets as at 30 September 2011. Vodafone currently has equity interests in over 30 countries across five continents and more than 40 partner networks worldwide. For more information, please visit www.vodafone.com.