Spain: Telefonica to divest assets to appease Brazil

Telefonica, which has been closely watched by Brazilian regulators for its significant market share in the South American nation, said it plans to divest assets to appease Brazil regulators.

Spain’s largest telco said it will sell off its shares of Telecom Italia, which have been the subject of controversy due to their impact on Brazil. Telefonica is Telecom Italia’s largest shareholder through its consortium Telco. But Telefonica holds a presence in Brazil’s wireless market by its Brazilian operations Vivo, as well as Telecom Italia’s Brazil operations TIM Brasil.

Antitrust authority CADE has been scrutinizing Telefonica’s presence for several years; late last year CADE ordered Telefonica to either divest TIM Brasil or to find a partner to run Vivo.

Telefonica was given 18 months to sort out the matter. The company lost an appeal of CADE’s order last month.

Now, reports say Telefonica will likely sell its stake in Telecom Italia and is in discussions with several investment funds, according to Brazilian reports.

Full content: Total Telecom

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