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HONG KONG, June 10 (Reuters) The parent of China Mobile Ltd. will pay HK$1.278 billion (US$164 million) to buy a 19.9 precent stake in Phoenix Satellite Television from Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., the Standard newspaper said on Saturday.

The purchase price was confirmed by China Mobile Chairman Wang Jianzhou, the newspaper said.

The companies had said on Thursday that after the transaction, News Corp's STAR Group Ltd. would retain 17.6 precent of the China-focused TV broadcaster Phoenix. Price details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Apart from the equity investment, China Mobile also formed a strategic alliance with Phoenix to develop and distribute wireless content.

Wang was not clear about whether the more sensitive news content of Phoenix would be made available to mobile users, but he thought the music and entertainment content should be all right, the newspaper said.

China Mobile's new business -- data and content -- grew 59 percent and accounted for a fifth of revenue in 2005.

China Mobile's deal with Phoenix, News Corp. and Star TV will not be exclusive, allowing the Murdoch units to partner other mobile operators in China to deliver their content, it said.

In a separate report, the Hong Kong Economic Times cited Wang as saying the parent company had no plans to inject the Phoenix stake into the listed China Mobile.

Shares of China Mobile, the world's largest cellular operator by subscribers, rose 2.5 percent to end Friday at HK$41.1, while shares of Phoenix slid 8.2 percent to end at HK$1.34.

($1=HK$7.8) REUTERS CS ND1136