News
Local businessman ready to make an offer that exceeds price of Fintech deal, but regulators reportedly due to OK original agreement.
Telecom Italia has been trying, with some difficulty, to sell its controlling stake in Telecom Argentina for some time, but now it appears that there are two rivals bidders for the shares.
Argentine businessman Carlos Newbery is ready to make an offer for the company that will exceed that agreed between Telecom Italia and would-be buyer Fintech by 10%, Bloomberg reported late last week.
The new offer would come in at US$1.1 billion (€1 billion), Newbery told the newswire.
Telecom Italia brokered a $960 million deal to sell its 68% stake in Sofora, Telecom Argentina’s holding company, to Fintech as long ago as November 2013, but regulatory objections meant it was unable to close the deal. The companies renegotiated in October 2014, retaining the price tag but building in a lengthy timeframe to gain the approval of telco regulator the Autoridad Federal de las Tecnologías de la Información y las Comunicaciones (AFTIC).
The companies have until spring 2017 to complete the deal.
To complicate matters, in October last year AFTIC blocked the deal on the grounds that Fintech lacks the experience to manage Telecom Argentina. The sale would leave the telco solely in the hands of investors, it noted.
At the time, Telecom Italia said it would appeal the decision, reminding the market that it still had 18 months left to find a solution.
According to Bloomberg’s sources, the Fintech deal is due to gain regulatory approval at the next regulatory meeting. The decision is likely to come from new regulator the Ente Nacional de Comunicaciones (ENACOM), which is in the process of absorbing AFTIC and media watchdog AFSCA.
Newbery is aware that the deal is set to be approved, but has nonetheless put forward his offer to Telecom Italia, the newswire said.
As a precursor to the deal going ahead, Fintech last week made an offer of 46 pesos (€2.73) per share for the class B Telecom Argentina shares listed on the Buenos Aires stock exchange.
