CHRONOLOGY-The deals that made mobile giant Vodafone

Feb 11 (Reuters) - Vodafone Group Plc (VOD.L) has won the bid battle for Hutchison Essar, valuing India's No.4 mobile phone operator at $19 billion and establishing itself in the world's second biggest and fastest growing mobile market.

Vodafone, which grew out of Racal Electronics, has come a long way from a small mobile company in Britain in 1985 to become the world's biggest mobile operator in terms of markets, mostly shaped by acquisitions.

Following are the top deals and events that shaped Vodafone, whose name is derived from voice and data services over phones.

1999

Jan 15: Vodafone announces acquisition of AirTouch Communications Inc, a U.S. mobile phone group with interests in German and Italian telecoms businesses controlled by Mannesmann for $66.5 billion, in a record transatlantic takeover.

Nov 14: Vodafone launches a 65.5 billion pounds ($129 billion) all-share hostile bid for Mannesmann. Mannesmann rejects the offer.

2000 Feb 4: Mannesmann agrees to improved 180 billion euro ($234 billion) all-share Vodafone bid, which gives its investors 49.5 percent of the combined company. Vodafone takes control of the group's German and Italian operations and seals its position as cell phone market leader.

April 3: Verizon Wireless (VZ.N), the largest U.S. mobile phone group, is born from a U.S. merger involving AirTouch's businesses. Vodafone takes a 45 percent stake.

April 12: The European Commission clears Vodafone's takeover of Mannesmann, but demands a demerger or sale of Orange, the British mobile phone group owned by Mannesmann. Orange is sold to France Telecom (FTE.PA) in May.

June: Vodafone buys 17 percent of Spanish mobile phone group Airtel for $4.0 billion.

Dec 20: Vodafone pays $2.2 billion for a 15 percent stake in Japan Telecom (9434.T).

Dec 21: Vodafone buys Irish mobile phone leader Eircell for 4.5 billion euros.

Dec 29: Vodafone raises stake in Spain's Airtel to 73.8 percent for around 7.9 billion pounds.

2001

Sept 20: Vodafone buys another 21.7 percent of Japan Telecom for 312 billion yen ($3 billion), raising its stake in the Japanese group's cell phone arm to 70 percent.

June 29: Vodafone raises its stake in Airtel to 91.6 percent by buying out BT Group Plc's (BT.L) 17.8 percent holding for 1.1 billion pounds.

2002

Oct 16 - Vodafone bids 13.1 billion euros for control of French telecoms joint venture Cegetel. French partner Vivendi Universal (VIV.PA) rejects a 6.8 billion euro bid for its 44 percent stake. Vodafone later buys out SBC Communications, another joint venture partner, which owned 15 percent.

2003

July - Chris Gent steps down as chief executive after more than 17 years at the company and seven years in the top job. He is succeeded by Arun Sarin, a non-executive Vodafone director and former chief operating officer of AirTouch.

2004

Jan/Feb - Vodafone loses out to Cingular in the race to buy AT&T Wireless, the then number three U.S. mobile company. That deal would have allowed Vodafone to bring its brand across the Atlantic and might have required it to sell its 45-percent stake in Verizon Wireless.

2005

March 15: Vodafone agrees to pay about $3.5 billion in cash to buy Romania's Mobifon and Czech peer Oskar Mobil from Canada's Telesystem International Wireless.

Oct 27: Vodafone returns to India with a $1.5 billion deal to buy 10 percent of the top mobile operator Bharti Tele-Ventures. It had left India in 2003, selling its stake in small regional player RPG Cellular.

Nov 3: Vodafone announces it was in talks to top up its stake in South Africa's largest cell phone group Vodacom to 50 percent from 35 percent for $2.4 billion.

Dec 13 - Vodafone wins the auction to buy Turkey's Telsim for $4.55 billion.

2006

March 17: Vodafone sells its Japanese business, Vodafone KK, to Softbank for 8.9 billion pounds, in its first real retreat from a history of empire building.

Aug 25: Vodafone sells its 25 percent stake in Belgian mobile opperator Proximus to partner Belgacom (BCOM.BR) for 2 billion euros.

Dec 19: Vodafone announces sale of 25 percent stake in Swisscom Mobile to Swisscom for 1.8 billion pounds.

Dec 22: Vodafone confirms market speculation that it was considering an offer to buy a controlling stake in India's Hutchison Essar.