Vodafone is in talks with TDC, Denmark’s leading telecoms company, about buying part of its stake in Polkomtel, Poland’s second-biggest mobile phone operator.

The UK company is interested in securing control of Polkomtel as part of efforts to expand its presence in emerging markets.

The development at Polkomtel came as Ghana’s parliament on Thursday voted to approve Vodafone’s plans to buy a majority stake in Ghana Telecom, the country’s leading telecoms company, for $900m (£482m).

Vodafone already has a 19.6 per cent stake in Polkomtel and is hoping to buy a further 4.8 per cent in the Polish operator from TDC.

TDC owns 19.6 per cent of Polkomtel but is looking to sell out to Vodafone and four state-controlled Polish companies.

PKN Orlen, one of the four companies, is also looking to dispose of its 19.6 per cent stake in Polkomtel.

If Vodafone were to conclude deals with TDC and PKN, it could end up owning at least 44 per cent of Polkomtel. Vodafone confirmed it was in talks with TDC.

Vodafone is seeking to expand its presence in emerging markets so as to offset slowing growth at its core European businesses.

Last month it issued a sales warning, mainly because of problems in Spain, which flared up rapidly in June.

However, Vodafone’s plans to buy a 70 per cent stake in Ghana Telecom, unveiled last month, became the subject of political controversy.

Critics said Vodafone’s $900m offer was too low given Ghana Telecom dominates the supply of fixed-line phone services and is also the third-largest mobile operator in the country.

Vodafone made concessions to Ghana’s parliament in a document presented to lawmakers for approval.

For example, Vodafone clarified a commitment to spend $500m on Ghana Telecom’s infrastructure, including completion of an optical fibre network.

Shares in Vodafone closed unchanged at 139.9p.

Source:ft.com