UPDATE 2-Vodafone eyes partnerships in Asia, South America

* Vodafone eyes partnerships with local operators

* Follows a period of withdrawals from markets

By Kate Holton

LONDON, Jan 9 - Vodafone, the world's largest mobile operator in terms of revenue, outlined on Monday plans to expand into fast-growing markets in Asia and South America through new partnerships to support international customers.

Britain's Vodafone, which has recently completed a scaling back of its portfolio after years of rapid expansion, will seek to secure new agreements with local operators to spread its footprint while avoiding expensive buyouts or heavy investments.

Partnership deals with local operators are all different and enable the group to provide connectivity to international customers. Some local operators also take on the Vodafone brand while others offer branded products.

Analysts said the move made a lot of sense and the partnerships would reassure investors that the group was maintaining its more measured approach to expansion after years of aggressive acquisitions in territories such as India.

"Investors will take comfort that rather than splurging cash ... they're seeking to get all the benefits of the brand, all the benefits of roaming, all the benefits of being big without blowing a lot on control premiums," Liberum analyst Mark James told Reuters.

"It's a logical extension of the way they've been running the business, the M&A strategy has been far more sensible of late than it has been in the past."

Vodafone announced a new partnership in French Polynesia and said it expected to agree new deals in further territories in Asia and South America through 2012 and beyond.

Dominant operators in those regions include Telefonica , Carlos Slim's America Movil , and Singapore's SingTel.

"These strategic relationships are good for partners and good for customers," Vodafone Partner Markets Chief Executive Ravinder Takkar said.

"They offer the best of Vodafone's scale and global expertise combined with our partners' market knowledge and experience. Our Partner Markets division has grown rapidly in recent years, and we look forward to further expansion into emerging markets."

The announcement follows a programme by Vodafone to withdraw from markets which it did not control, such as France, China and Poland, which boosted the appeal of the company to investors as it returned much of the cash to shareholders.

It now has a partnership deal in France following a sale of its 44 percent holding in French operator SFR to Vivendi last year for 7.75 billion euros. The two companies will also jointly source and deploy a full range of products and services targeted at the corporate markets.