Mexican telecom giant América Móvil, owned by billionaire Carlos Slim, is offering US $6.5 billion to acquire from shareholders the entire ownership of its fixed-line operation Telefonos de Mexico SAB or Telmex.
Currently, América Móvil owns 59.4% and is the biggest shareholder of Telmex. The company launched a tender offer to buy the rest, and said it would pay 10.50 pesos a share, a premium of 11.1% on its share price over the past 30 days.
To seal the deal, AT&T Inc. (T) must sell its 8.5% stake in Telmex, for US $1.4 billion, which represents profit of approximately 1% to 3% per share on sale.
Telmex is formerly the state-owned fixed-line carrier that became the linchpin of Latin America’s most powerful business empire in 1990. In the second quarter, Telmex’s net income felt 11.8% from the year-ago period, while its revenue dropped 2.9% to 27.614 billions pesos (US $2.357 billion).
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