Mexican wireless giant America Movil (AMX) takes a long term view on its recent minority investments in KPN and Telekom Austria, AMX CFO Carlos Garcia Moreno told the Financial Times.
Moreno said that AMX did not want to consolidate the debt or the…
Mexican wireless giant America Movil (AMX) takes a long term view on its recent minority investments in KPN and Telekom Austria, AMX CFO Carlos Garcia Moreno told the Financial Times.
Moreno said that AMX did not want to consolidate the debt or the operational responsibility for other carriers, which is why it is focussing on minority stakes only.
He noted that market conditions would enable the company to acquire European telcos for attractive prices. While other people focused on short term investments, AMX would consider them long term.
Meanwhile, AMX has reportedly rejected a request from Dutch telco KPN to relinquish some voting rights if it succeeds in gaining a significant stake in the company.
According to a report in Het Financieele Dagblad, quoted by Reuters, Moreno described the request as “unacceptable”.
Contrary to KPN’s contention earlier this month that AMX would not enter into a shareholder agreement, Moreno told the Dutch paper the group is willing to enter into such an agreement, provided it does not involve the forfeiture of voting rights.
Responding on 1 June to AMX’s €8 per share tender offer to boost its stake in the company to up to 27.7%, KPN had cited the Mexican group’s refusal to enter into a shareholder agreement as one reason why investors should reject it.
KPN CEO Eelco Blok warned investors against enabling Slim’s group to gain a “significant influence” over the company, and that it could affect key strategic decisions if it gains its target shareholding.
KPN shareholders have until 27 June to decide whether or not to accept AMX’s offer although the Mexican telco has said this may be extended.
Since launching the tender on 31 May, AMX has boosted its stake in KPN via a series of transactions outside regular market trading. Yesterday, (18 June), AMX announced it had acquired an extra 4.65 million shares in three separate transactions, taking its total stake in KPN to 8.46%.
