Televisa’s plea to acquire stake in Iusacell faces rejection (Mexico)
Mexican multimedia conglomerate Televisa’s attempt to acquire a 50 percent stake in mobile operator Iusacell has reportedly been rejected by the Mexican regulatory authority. The deal has been under review for nine months and estimated to be worth US$ 1.6 billion.
According to reports, the decline by the regulatory authority CFC, could have negative consequences for both companies. Sources claim that this move was important for Televisa as it provided the media company an entry into the wireless market. Further, the money would provide Iusacell with the much required financial support to maintain its position in the industry as well as increase its business.
As per sources, the companies can appeal to the agency to review its decision.
Mexican dark fibre license won by consortium
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: An announcement has been made by the Secretario de Comunicaciones y Transportes (SCT) regarding a consortium made up of local media giant Grupo Televisa, Mexican cableco Megacable and Spain’s Telefonica has been awarded the license allowing access to two strands of dark fibre owned by state power company Comision Federal de Electricidad (CFE).
Bid of MXN884 million (USD69.4 million) was submitted by the trio and it is understood that they plan to spend a combined MXN1.3 billion on upgrading the infrastructure for future use. All the three firms getting the license will be able to transport customer traffic over the fibre strands, while it will also allow them to offer routing services to other operators.
According to Francisco Gil Diaz, executive vice president of Telefonica Mexico, now there will be competition and it’s something that players very much lacked in this country. The regulator rejected mobile operator Iusacell’s application, claiming the cellco had failed to agree to the auction rules.
Banco Azteca to launch tender for Iusacell shares (Mexico)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The local financial institution of Mexican mobile network operator Iusacell, Banco Azteca is preparing to launch a tender for the 6.1% of shares in the cellco. Currently, these shares are occupied by minority shareholders.
According to a filing made by Iusacell to the Mexican stock exchange notes that the bank will offer MXN49.05 (USD4.03) per share for all of the shares it does not hold, with the total value of the deal expected to be around MXN371.8 million.
The tender commenced on April 21 and will run until May 18.
Iusacell becomes second operator to bid for dark fibre (Mexico)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Mexican mobile network operator Iusacell has expressed an official interest in the government’s upcoming auction for access to two of state-owned power firm Comision Federal de Electridad’s (CFE’s) dark fibre strands. This has made the company, the second mobile operator to announce an official interest in the auction.
Earlier, it was reported that an auction will be conducted by Secretario de Comunicaciones y Transportes (SCT) on behalf of CFE, and the fibre links, which span some 21,208km, have been split into three sections: Pacific, Centre and Gulf.
Till April 5 which was the deadline, only one other bid was received by the SCT, the country’s telecoms regulator. The interested bid came as a joint offer by local broadcast giant Televisa, Telefonica of Spain and cableco Megacable.
On June 9, the licenses granting access to the fibre strand with a validity of 20-year period will be awarded to the telcos.
Mexico’s spectrum auction delayed
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: MVS Comunicaciones and Iusacell appeal to suspend the auction of mobile spectrum in the 1850MHz-1990MHz and 1710MHz-2170MHz bands has been granted by a court of Mexico.
The two operators has cited the bidding rules as unfair and argued that the Secretario de Comunicaciones y Transportes (SCT) should first renew its licenses in the 2.5GHz band before the process begins.
Telcel, Mexico’s largest operator by subscribers has also voiced its discontent with the bidding rules. According to Daniel Hajj, CEO of America Movil, Telcel’s parent company, although the company is participating in the auction, they are not very happy.
Mexican mobile operators Iusacell, Unefon to merge
MEXICO CITY, Sept 6 (Reuters) – Mexican cellular phone operators Iusacell and Unefon said on Wednesday they had agreed to merge and aimed to create the country’s second-largest mobile service provider.
The merger of the two companies, both controlled by Mexican industrialist Ricardo Salinas, follows Iusacell’s (CEL.MX: Quote, Profile, Research) restructuring of $350 million of debt, completed on Aug. 28.
Unefon Holdings SA (UNEFONA.MX: Quote, Profile, Research) also said on Wednesday it would acquire a 45.6 percent stake in Unefon to bring its ownership to 100 percent. It said it would buy the stock from the family of key shareholder Moises Saba for $300 million.
Merging Iusacell and Unefon will create a company with around 3.3 million subscribers, putting it in third place in terms of subscriber numbers behind market leader America Movil (AMXL.MX: Quote, Profile, Research) with 39.2 million and Telefonica Moviles (TEF.MC: Quote, Profile, Research) with some 6.9 million.
Iusacell said it was aiming for the merger to lift it to the number two spot in terms of total mobile voice and data services.
Spokesmen for the companies were not available to give further details.
The move had been anticipated by investors. Iusacell’s shares have more than doubled in value in the last six months on rumours of the merger, as well as on the company’s debt restructuring.
Citigroup said in a report last month that if the merger went ahead, “the additional benefit on Iusacell’s stock from current levels could be substantial”.
Iusacell shares ended Wednesday down 4.7 percent at 67.69 pesos. The merger announcement came after the market closed.
Unefon shares do not trade regularly.
Salinas
, among
Mexico
‘s richest men, bought Iusacell in 2003. He promised at the time to come up with a business plan to expand its presence in the Mexican market.
Source- http://today.reuters.com
Technorati : Iusacell, Mexico, Mobile, Unefon
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