America Movil said a full takeover of KPN would "facilitate greater operational cooperation and co-ordination between the two companies, to exploit all areas for potential partnerships and to intensify the realization of synergy potential for both companies". Its offer would be conditional on acquiring at least 50 percent of KPN's shares.
The company also commented on KPN's proposed sale of its German unit E-Plus to Telefonica, saying it was still considering how to vote its shares at the EGM on the transaction. According to earlier reports, America Movil's representatives on KPN's supervisory board did not vote in favour of the deal.
KPN issued a statement saying only that it acknowledged the bid and its boards would consider the offer from America Movil. The latter said it had already presented the bid to KPN's boards and invited them for further talks.
Mexico-based America Movil first built up a stake in KPN a year ago, as part of a diversification of its operations, which previously had focused exclusively on the Americas. As part of the expansion to Europe, it acquired a minority stake in Telekom Austria around the same time as the initial KPN deal.
KPN's management at first resisted the arrival of the new shareholder, saying America Movil's offer of EUR 8 per share was too low. When KPN later needed shareholder support for a rights offering, it agreed a cooperation pact with America Movil, giving the company two seats on its supervisory board. Following the deal to sell E-Plus to Telefonica, America Movil announced it was withdrawing from the shareholders agreement with KPN. This also brought an end to the standstill agreement to not increase its stake in KPN.
