Hutchison Whampoa to buy back 187.97 million shares in its HTIL unit from NTT DoCoMo

Hutchison Whampoa will buy back 187.97 million shares in its Hutchison Telecommunications International Limited (HTIL) unit from Japan’s NTT DoCoMo Inc. for $166.5 million. The acquisition will raise Hutchison Whampoa’s stake in HTIL to 74.3 per cent from 70.2 per cent. Hutchison’s acquisition of the shares is part of last year’s agreement between the companies, allowing DoCoMo to sell back all its stake in HTIL. DoCoMo’s sale of HTIL shares completes its exit from its partnership in the 3G UK venture. DoCoMo, however, remains connected to Hutchison as it still holds stakes in Hutchison’s non-wholly owned units, HTCL and H3GHK.