Carlos Slim has held negotiations with Nextel to acquire its Argentinean unit, local newspaper Clarin reports, without citing sources. Also interested in the purchase is Argentine businessman Eduardo Eurnekian, who recently opened a chip plant near Buenos Aires, to tap the Latin American market for credit cards, mobile phones and electronic identification services.
At the beginning of July, BAE Negocios, citing unnamed industry sources, reported that the Argentinean government was studying a potential merger between state-owned satellite company Arsat and mobile operator Nextel. The resulting company would provide mobile telephony services, the sources added.
Eurnekian could use the newly-opened plant to provide technology to power mobile phones for company resulting from the Arsat-Nextel merger.
Nextel is currently unable to launch 4G services because the Argentinean government has annulled the tender that would have allowed the operator to expand its spectrum to provide fourth generation services on the local market. Thus Nextel is currently studying two options, either the sale of its entire Argentina unit or the partnership with another operator.
Industry sources say the minimum sale price for Nextel reaches ARS 2 billion (approximately USD 400 million). Eurnekian is reportedly more interested in a partnership-merger, rather than in the purchase of Nextel Argentina, while negotiations with Carlos Slim’s Telmex unit were headed towards the purchase of 100 percent of Nextel Argentina.
