Spanish telecommunications company Telefónica – news agencies reported Tuesday – reached an agreement to sell its entire stake in its Mexican subsidiary, Telefónica México, to Melisa Acquisition for $450 million.
The transaction was carried out through Telefónica Hispanoamérica, a subsidiary of the company, and involves the sale of 100% of the capital of Pegaso PCS and Celular de Telefonía, which together comprise Telefónica México.
According to Reuters, Telefónica reported that the agreement is subject to the fulfillment of certain conditions agreed upon between the buyer and seller.
Telefónica entered Mexico in 2000-2001 through the acquisition of regional operators in the north of the country; in 2002, it consolidated its national presence by acquiring 92% of Pegaso PCS, marking the beginning of its expansion in the Mexican mobile phone market under the Movistar brand.
For its part, the EFE news agency reported that Telefónica informed the Spanish National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) that the transaction aligns with its strategic plan presented last November, which aims to divest the company from Latin America.
Telefónica specified that the agreement is subject to obtaining the necessary regulatory approvals and that the price will be subject to the usual adjustments for this type of transaction.
For the Spanish company, the transaction is in line with its asset portfolio management policy and its strategy to exit Latin America. This transaction is the sixth sale completed by Telefónica’s chairman, Marc Murtra, since joining the company a year ago.
When presenting his strategic plan on November 4, Murtra explained that he expects to finalize Telefónica’s exit from Latin America in the coming months, specifically in countries such as Mexico, Venezuela, and Chile.
The strategy began in 2019 and has continued under Marc Murtra’s leadership. In recent years, Telefónica has accelerated its plans to reduce its exposure in the region, given that profitability is lower than the cost of capital. It seeks to focus on other markets it considers “core.”
It is in this context that Telefónica Hispanoamérica, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Spanish company, reached an agreement to sell all of its shares in Pegaso PCS and Celular de Telefonía, which together form Telefónica México, to Melisa Acquisition.
Source: radioformula
