France Telecom Seeks Stake in E-Plus

France Telecom, Europe’s second-largest phone company, agreed to buy a 17.24% stake in German wireless company E-Plus Mobilfunk for $1.86 billion in cash to gain a foothold in Europe’s biggest market. France Telecom bought the stake from Vodafone AirTouch and will seek to buy the rest of the company from its three other shareholders. E-Plus, Germany’s third-largest mobile company, with 3 million subscribers, is owned by German utilities Veba and RWE, which together hold a 60.25% stake, and BellSouth Corp., which has the remaining 22.51%. France Telecom’s American depositary receipts closed up $2.81 at $87.50 on the NYSE. Vodafone AirTouch’s ADRs closed up 38 cents at $46.31 on the NYSE. The shares had split 5 for 1 after the close of trading Friday. Shares of BellSouth, which sweetened its offer to buy Sprint Corp. Monday, fell $2.69 to $42.69, also on the NYSE.