A Bloomberg report said billionaire Carlos Slim would be seen investing in European and Latin American telecom companies after his failed bid for Royal KPN NV. His company's talks to acquire the Dutch telecom company for USD9.9 billion recently broke down.
The report said Slim could target telecom companies like Telekom Austria AG or the Brazil unit of Telecom Italia SpA. Data compiled by Bloomberg showed that combined cash of 99% companies in the Latin America pale in comparison to Slim's mobile-phone carrier America Movil SAB. This means, as the report indicated, that Slim would have the flexibility to make strategic acquisitions.
Mitsubishi's London-based head of strategy Rick Mattila, referring to America Movil's ticker symbol AMX, said, "The whole idea for AMX here appears to be to diversify away from the Americas and to take advantage of arguably low telecom valuations in Europe. AMX could also opt to simply keep its powder dry for a while, pending any decisions with respect to Telecom Italia's intentions on its Tim Brazil asset."
When asked about America Movil's acquisition plans, a spokesman had refused to provide a statement.
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