NTT DoCoMo Dissolves Capital Tie-Up With KPN Mobi

TOKYO -(Dow Jones)- NTT DoCoMo said Monday that it has dissolved a capital tie-up with KPN Mobile N.V. of the Netherlands.

NTT DoCoMo, Japan's biggest mobile phone service operator in terms of subscribers, sold its entire 2.16% stake in KPN Mobile to the unit's parent company KPN N.V.

The Japanese firm will continue licensing its "i-mode" Internet accessible mobile phone services to KPN Mobile.

NTT DoCoMo sold the 2.16% stake for EUR5 million, a NTT DoCoMo spokesman said.

The spokesman declined to give clear reasons for the share sale, saying only that the company's decision was based on various factors including improving the value of "i-mode" services.

In 2000, NTT DoCoMo bought a 15% stake in KPN Mobile for Y400 billion, the spokesman said. However, the Japanese firm booked combined share appraisal losses of Y400 billion in the fiscal year ended March 2002 and the following fiscal year, the spokesman said.

In 2002, KPN Mobile asked NTT DoCoMo for a further capital injection, but the Japanese mobile-phone firm rejected the request. Its stake in the Dutch mobile-phone unit declined to 2.16% as the number of KPN Mobile shares increased due to the company's capital increase, a NTT DoCoMo spokesman said.

The Japanese company plans to book a non-operating profit of Y40 billion on a consolidated level due to the share sale in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2006. DoCoMo will release its earnings outlook for this fiscal year when it announces its result for the first half ended September 30 on Friday.

-By Yoshio Takahashi, Dow Jones Newswires; 813-5255-2929; yoshio.takahashi@dowjones.com

-Edited by Leslie Shaffer

(END) Dow Jones Newswires"

Posted to the site on 24th October 2005