Mexican telecoms giant America Movil announced yesterday that it had entered into a stock purchase agreement with GE Satellite Holdings, a subsidiary of US-based conglomerate General Electric, to acquire 20% of shares in the Brazilian satellite operator…
Mexican telecoms giant America Movil announced yesterday that it had entered into a stock purchase agreement with GE Satellite Holdings, a subsidiary of US-based conglomerate General Electric, to acquire 20% of shares in the Brazilian satellite operator Star One.
America Movil’s Brazilian subsidiary, Embratel, owns 80% of Star One, so America Movil will now control the whole company through direct or indirect stakes.
The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
America Movil said in a statement that the deal was still subject to regulatory approval and was expected to close in Q3 2011.
Star One currently provides satellite TV, telephone and internet services.
Star One’s net income was over R$231m (US$147m) in 2009, the most recent annual report available.
Embratel’s net income for 2010 was R$723m (US$461m), which represented a fall of over 43% from the previous year.
Embratel is a DTH provider of satellite TV. It also offers cable TV provided through fibre-optic lines, as well as internet and fixed-line telephone services.
America Movil’s other subsidiaries in Brazil are the mobile operator Claro and the fixed-line operator, cable TV and internet provider Net (in which Embratel holds a direct or indirect stake of 91.9%).
A spokesman for GE Capital, the financial services arm of General Electric (GE), would not comment on the deal, but he did say that the company had not used any outside advisers.
Star One and America Movil did not reply to questions before the press deadline.
