Uruguayan businessman and politician Edgardo Novick, a minority shareholder of pay-TV operator Supercanal, has offered around USD 400 million to acquire Telefonica’s Movistar Uruguay subsidiary, reports Telesemana, citing unnamed official sources. Novick, who is also head of the “Partido de la Gente” party, submitted the bid on behalf of a foreign investment fund, said the report, adding that the executive has already discussed the bid with Uruguay’s industry minister Omar Paganini and Mercedes Aramendia, head of telecommunications regulator Ursec.
Earlier this year, local daily Clarin reported that Argentinian holding company Grupo Olmos, owner of the pay-TV channel Cronica TV, was likewise in talks to acquire Movistar Uruguay and had hired former Telefonica Spain president Luis Miguel Gilperez to lead the negotiations,
Movistar currently has 1.66 million customers, accounting for around 31 percent of the Uruguayan mobile services market, behind Antel’s 51 percent share and Claro’s 18 percent.
