Exciting news from Brazil: Telefonica to buy Vivo from Portugal Telecom

Now this is interesting news from GSMA. More or less Vivo now goes to Telefonica, who really becomes a very large rival to Telcel/America Moviles in Latam, but on top of it, PT gets more involved in Oi, who has a slightly different sim-card-only business model. And where is TIM going in all of this ?


Telefonica to buy Vivo from Portugal Telecom

Telefonica appears to have finally clinched a deal with Portugal Telecom (PT) to buy it out of their Brazilian mobile phone joint venture, Vivo, for a reported EUR7.5 billion. Telefonica plans to acquire the remaining 50 percent of Brasilcel, the joint-owned holding company for Vivo, which controls 60 percent of Vivo (Brazil’s largest mobile operator). “This agreement will be submitted for approval of the Board of Directors of both Companies, which are expected to be held today,” noted a statement from Telefonica.

Telefonica is reported to have won the deal after offering EUR350 million more than the price accepted by PT shareholders last month but rejected by the Portugese government. The deal will allow Telefonica to offset the impact of slowing revenues from its largely mature European business by boosting its presence in the growing Brazilian market. Telefonica wants to integrate its fixed and mobile businesses (Telesp and Vivo) in the same way that its main rival, Carlos Slim’s America Movil, is doing. Meanwhile PT is to acquire a 22.4 percent stake in Brazil's fourth-largest mobile operator, Oi, for US$4.76 billion. PT will acquire the stake from Oi shareholders AG Telecom Participacoes and LF Tel, Oi said in a filing with the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission, or CVM.