América Móvil secures funding for €7.2bn takeover of KPN
Mexican telco América Móvil, the firm headed by telecommunications mogul Carlos Slim, has secured funding for its proposed takeover of Dutch telco KPN.
In order to bankroll the deal, América Móvil said on Wednesday it had made binding financing agreements with "respected financial institutions around the globe", although it did not disclose the names of the companies in question. Meanwhile, the takeover bid has been submitted to the Dutch financial regulator, the Autoriteit Financiele Markten, according to a statement by América Móvil.
Unusual strategy
The structure of América Móvil's bid is unusual: while América Móvil Europa (the Dutch subsidiary of América Móvil) holds a 27.8 percent share in KPN, the €7.2bn bid for the Dutch telco was put forward by Carso Telecom, another subsidiary of América Móvil, and the one which will become the owner of KPN if the deal goes through. Neither América Móvil nor Slim have disclosed any details on the reason behind this strategy.
Last week, KPN's independent foundation, which has the power to defend the carrier from a takeover, expressed its concern that América Móvil isn't being clear about its intentions for the future of the company.
E-Plus vote
Meanwhile, KPN has announced it will hold a shareholder meeting on 2 October, where shareholders will be asked to vote on the sale of the telco's German mobile subsidiary, E-Plus.
KPN is proposing to sell E-Plus to Telefonica, a move which would give the Spanish telecommunications a lead in the German mobile market. However, the proposed transaction is said to be the reason for Slim's sudden move to pursue a full takeover of KPN, and it is generally expected that América Móvil will vote against the sale of E-Plus.
The Mexican telco is said to have a strong interest in the preservation of the German subsidiary, especially given the fact that Telefonica is one of América Móvil's largest competitors of in South and Central America