Mexican billionaire Ricardo Salinas has said that Telefónica wants to buy his 50% stake in mobile operator Iusacell but added that it is not for sale.
The CEO of Grupo Salinas commented on the speculation surrounding Iusacell using his Twitter account,…
Mexican billionaire Ricardo Salinas has said that Telefónica wants to buy his 50% stake in mobile operator Iusacell but added that it is not for sale.
The CEO of Grupo Salinas commented on the speculation surrounding Iusacell using his Twitter account, adding that he would continue to invest in the telco.
Salinas said that the reforms to Mexico’s telecoms sector, designed to tame dominant operator América Móvil, gave Iusacell the confidence to continue growing.
Yesterday a Spanish newspaper said Telefónica was close to a takeover of mobile operator Iusacell which would give it an enterprise value of between €2.5bn and €3bn. In a notice to the market following the report, Telefónica confirmed that it was involved in a negotiating process in Mexico but that an agreement was yet to be reached.
The report said Telefónica was nearing an agreement on an exchange ratio with the target’s joint owners, Grupo Televisa and Grupo Salinas.
Negotiations are reported to have been taking place for the past eight months and Lazard is said to be Telefónica’s adviser.
Should Telefonica successfully acquire Iusacell the combined operator would have around 26 million mobile customers.
The talks between the companies come at a time when a new operator could enter the market. America Movil has announced plans to offload subscribers and infrastructure to meet the requirements of Mexico’s new telecoms regulations.
It is expected to divest at least 20 million mobile subscribers to take its market share below the 50% threshold and hopes to sell to a single, well-capitalised buyer from abroad.
