July 3 (Bloomberg) -- Vodafone Group Plc, the world's biggest mobile-phone company, agreed to buy a 70 percent stake in Ghana Telecommunications Co. from the government for $900 million to expand in one of Africa's fastest-growing markets.

The deal values Ghana Telecom at about $1.3 billion and the government of Ghana will retain a 30 percent stake, Newbury, England-based Vodafone said in an e-mailed statement today. Ghana Telecom posted 2007 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $42 million on sales of $290 million, Vodafone said.

Vodafone has expanded in emerging markets in the past two years with acquisitions in Turkey and India, after slower growth in Europe hurt investor confidence. Vodafone had 252 million customers at the end of 2007, of which 106 million were in growth markets in eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

``Ghana is one of the most attractive markets in Africa with mobile subscribers growing at more than 55 percent per annum and mobile penetration around 35 percent,'' Vodafone Chief Executive Officer Arun Sarin said in the statement.

Vodafone said Ghana Telecom will invest $500 million over the next five years in its operations and network.

Fiber Network

As part of the deal, the government has agreed to transfer its fiber-network assets to Ghana Telecom. The deal still needs approval from the Ghanaian parliament and Vodafone predicts the transaction will close in the third quarter of 2008. The deal will be ``broadly neutral'' to adjusted earnings per share in the first year of acquisition, Vodafone said.

Vodafone bought a 52 percent stake in Hutchison Essar Ltd., now India's third-largest wireless operator, for $10.7 billion in May 2007, and purchased Turkey's Telsim Mobil Telekomunikasyon Hizmetleri AS for $4.55 billion in 2006.

Vodafone has said it wants to increase its 50 percent stake in Vodacom Group Ltd., South Africa's biggest mobile- phone operator by subscribers. Since the end of 2005, Vodafone has sold its units in Japan and Sweden, as well as stakes in Swiss and Belgian mobile-phone companies, for a total of $21.8 billion.

To contact the reporters on this story: Simon Thiel in London at sthiel1@bloomberg.net;

Last Updated: July 3, 2008 07:11 EDT