Reliance Communications, an Indian telecommunications company, has acquired Vanco, a global managed network services provider in the U.K., for US$77 million. It made the acquisition through its subsidiary Reliance Globalcom, which also runs and operates the Flag undersea cable system.

The acquisition of Vanco will add annual revenue of $US365 millio to Reliance Globalcom, the company said on Monday. Vanco, a virtual network operator, offers its services in 40,000 locations across 63 countries, though 90 per cent of its revenue comes from the U.S., U.K., Germany, and France.

The deal is one of a number of moves by Indian telecommunications companies to acquire companies abroad, both to expand their presence beyond India and to offer more services to their customers in India and abroad.

Reliance Communications announced earlier on Monday that it had entered into negotiations with the MTN Group in South Africa to combine their businesses. Another Indian company, Bharti Airtel, announced on Saturday that it had called off talks with MTN for a merger between the two companies.

Last year, Reliance Globalcom acquired Yipes Holdings, an Ethernet service provider in the US for $300 million.