Telefonica Completes Tender For Shares Of Brazil's Vivo

Spanish telecommunications giant Telefonica (TEF, TEF.MC) completed its public tender for outstanding shares of Brazilian mobile phone company Vivo Participacoes SA (VIV, VIVO4.BR) on Friday, one of the last steps in the breakup of a local joint venture between Telefonica and Portugal Telecom SGPS (PT, PTC.LB).

Telefonica's SP Telecomunicacoes Participacoes holding company paid 1.27 billion Brazilian reais ($762 million) to buy up the 15.2 million outstanding common shares in Vivo, according to local exchange operator BM&FBovespa. Telefonica paid BRL118.97 per share, the exchange said.

The deal is part of Telefonica's expansion in Brazil, a key growth market for global telecommunications companies. As European markets have been stagnant in recent years, Latin America has increased in importance as one of the few regions that has shown exponential growth, especially in the mobile segment.

The public tender was part of Telefonica's deal to buy the 50% stake in Vivo, Brazil's largest mobile phone operator, that the company didn't already own from Portugal Telecom for EUR7.5 billion. Telefonica and Portugal Telecom each held 50% stakes in Vivo.

-By Jeff Fick, Dow Jones Newswires; 55-21-3288-5011; [e-mail]