Chilean telco Entel is reported to have agreed to pay €500m for Nextel Peru, an asset which parent NII Holdings has previously said it would consider selling.
According to Peruvian publication El Comercio the parties have settled on the price but are…
Chilean telco Entel is reported to have agreed to pay €500m for Nextel Peru, an asset which parent NII Holdings has previously said it would consider selling.
According to Peruvian publication El Comercio the parties have settled on the price but are yet to agree deal details. The publication referred to unnamed people close to the transaction.
NII’s share price rose by more than 21% on 3 April following the report, from US$4.16 to US$5.05.
Entel declined to comment on the report while NII Holdings did not respond to a request for comment before deadline.
In January a Chilean report said Entel was looking to acquire Nextel Peru. In February US-based telco NII said it was exploring strategic options for its operations in Argentina, Chile and Peru.
When asked about asset sales in those three countries in NII’s Q4 2012 earnings call, the company’s interim CEO Steve Shindler said: “We could sell minority stakes. Would we consider an outright asset sale? We would, but it would have to be the right deal at the right price.”
In February NII also said it was looking at a sale and leaseback of up to 4,500 of its towers in Brazil and Mexico. It is weighing up offers from a number of interested parties and expects to complete these transactions this year.
Nextel Peru had operating revenues of US$343m last year. NII reported US$6.1bn in consolidated operating revenues, 10% down from 2011, and consolidated adjusted OIBDA of US$936m, a 41% down on the previous year.
