Telefonica announced that it’s in the process of negotiating the sale of its Central American assets, confirming recent reports. The sale could be "related to either all or some of those assets," said the company in a brief statement to Spanish markets watchdog CNMV, adding that no agreement has yet been reached. Business daily Expansion earlier reported that the operator has divided its Central America unit into two separate packages with a view to facilitating the sale for a combined total of around EUR 1.4 billion.
A deal for the company’s Guatemala and El Salvador subsidiaries is very close, with Claro (America Movil) still the most likely buyer if anti-trust concerns can be overcome, said the report, while Millicom and AT&T are cited as possible buyers of the remaining Central American subsidiaries in Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Panama.
Telefonica owns a 60 percent stake in the Central American unit encompassing Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Panama, which together contribute around 4 percent to the group’s total revenues. It’s also exploring the total or partial sale of its Mexican unit in order to reduce its debt pile and boost its share price.
