STOCKHOLM—After weeks of speculation that a deal was in the works for China Mobile to purchase Millicom International Cellular S.A., Millicom declared that it terminated all sales talks.
“Since May 2006, the company has been in prolonged discussions and due diligence with one potential purchaser but has now concluded that this purchaser will not be in a position within an acceptable timeframe to make a binding offer that is suitably attractive, given the current strong performance of the business, or sufficiently certain of closing,” said Millicom in a company statement.
The deal, reportedly worth about $5.3 billion, would have been the largest overseas acquisition by a Chinese company to date. China Mobile is the world’s largest carrier in terms of subscriber numbers.
Millicom said that it had reached its conclusion as a result of a strategic review that began in January; shortly after it canceled the China Mobile talks, the carrier announced it added 1.4 million subscribers pro forma in the second quarter, representing 15-percent growth from the previous quarter and 62-percent pro forma growth compared to the second quarter of 2005.
Millicom has cellular licenses and operations in 16 countries, mostly developing nations in Asia, Latin America and Africa. The carrier ended the second quarter with 10.9 million subscribers.
Millicom shares were up about 7 percent in midday trading.
