America Movil set to buy KPN at EUR 2.40 per share

America Movil on Friday said it would make a voluntary tender offer in cash to buy KPN.

The offer price will be EUR 2.40 per share and implies a premium of approximately 35.4 percent over the average closing price of KPN’s shares on Euronext Amsterdam for the last 30 trading days.

In recent years, America Movil has been exploring opportunities to expand its operations to other regions outside the Americas to achieve geographical diversification and create attractive long-term returns for its shareholders.

KPN would represent its first investment outside of the Americas.

America Movil, which is looking at more than 50 percent stake in KPN from the present 29.77 percent, aims to support KPN’s aggressive expansion plans in Europe. KPN has presence in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. Besides, KPN has a strong international voice business in foreign markets through iBasis.

KPN earlier said its Capex (capital expenditure) for 2013 will be €2.3 billion, and €7 billion during 2013-2015. In 2012, KPN reported revenues of €12.7 billion.

Recently, KPN agreed to sell its German telecom operator E-Plus to Telefonica, in a deal valued at $10.7 billion.

More than a year after its initial investment in KPN, America Movil’s objective is to acquire a majority stake in KPN to 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.

America Movil plans KPN bid

Last year, America Movil spent about $4 billion increasing its stake in former Dutch phone monopoly KPN, after bidding 8 euros a share.

Earlier, America Movil shared a strong indication about a possible buy out of KPN when billionaire Carlos Slim’s America Movil ended an agreement with Royal KPN that capped the Mexican company’s stake in the Dutch phone carrier at about 30 percent.

If the Mexican telecom giant raises its equity stake above 30 percent in KPN, Mexico City-based America Movil would have to bid for all of the company’s shares, according to Dutch law.

America Movil had 328.8 million accesses at the end of June. This figure includes 262.0 million wireless subscribers, 30.7 million landlines, 18.2 million broadband accesses and 17.8 million PayTV units.

It is offering the 4G services in Mexico (11 cities), Brazil (18 cities), Chile and Puerto Rico.

America Movil’s second quarter Capex was 49.1 billion pesos.

Its revenues rose 1.6 percent to 194.8 billion pesos in Q2 2013.

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