Friday, February 19, 2010

Will Argentina Renationalize Telecom?

[forbes] In April 2007 Spain's Telefonica acquired a 42.3% stake in Telco, a holding company that owns 24.5% of Telecom Italia. News of the merger attracted the attention of Argentine anti-trust authorities since, together, Telecom Argentina (of which Telecom Italia is a major shareholder) and Telefonica de Argentina (a subsidiary of Spain's Telefonica) control approximately 90% of the local telecommunications market. Telefonica of Spain's stake in Telecom Argentina is diluted in numerous intermediary holdings and is thus equivalent to around 2%. Rumors of a possible merger of Spain's Telefonica and Telecom Italia have been circulating in recent weeks, but they have so far been denied by the two companies.

CNDC orders divestment. In August 2009 Argentina's Anti-Trust Commission (CNDC) ordered Telecom Italia to sell its stake in Telecom Argentina, setting a 12-month deadline for the sale. The CNDC authorities considered that Telefonica's acquisition would effectively end competition in the local telecommunications market.

Will Argentina Renationalize Telecom?

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