Ricardo Salinas to Buy Televisa's Stake in Iusacell

MEXICO CITY--Mexican businessman Ricardo Salinas Pliego has agreed to buy broadcast and media company Grupo Televisa's 50% stake in mobile phone company Iusacell, resuming full ownership of the wireless carrier for which he is now seeking a strategic partner.

Grupo Salinas said Wednesday that Mr. Salinas will pay $717 million for Televisa's stake in Iusacell, less than the $1.6 billion that Televisa paid for it in 2011. Televisa said in a release that it will book a noncash loss of $320 million on the investment.

Mr. Salinas, who controls Mexican broadcaster Azteca and banking and retail concern Grupo Elektra, said in a release that Iusacell has doubled its customer base to 8 million subscribers in the three years since Televisa invested in the company, and increased its revenue by about 50%.

Grupo Salinas spokesman Luis Niño de Rivera said the company is looking for an international partner with experience, technological capacity and "economic muscle," and that it is talking with several potential partners.

Iusacell competes in the Mexican mobile market with Telcel, the unit of billionaire Carlos Slim's America Movil which has about a 70% market share, with Spain's Telefónica, which has around 20% of the market, and with the Mexican unit of NII Holdings Inc.

In July, amid reports that Telefónica was in talks to acquire Iusacell, Mr. Salinas said that his half of the company wasn't up for sale. Telefónica declined to comment Wednesday on the transaction.

Grupo Salinas said the new telecommunications laws and regulations on América Móvil favor competition, and will enable Iusacell to deploy its infrastructure to more markets in Mexico, generating more opportunities for expansion. The regulations include the elimination of charges by Telcel to complete calls from rival networks, while Telcel has to pay to connect outgoing calls.

América Móvil is planning to sell assets to lower its market share in Mexico to less than 50% and thereby avoid the regulations imposed on it as the dominant carrier.

Mr. Niño de Rivera said that won't affect Iusacell's plans. "Mr. Salinas sees this as an enormous opportunity, regardless of what the others do," he said

Mr. Salinas bought Iusacell in 2003 for around $10 million--plus the assumption of $800 million in debt--from Verizon Communications Inc. of the U.S. and Vodafone Group PLC of the U.K., which had each invested around $1 billion in the company but were unable to turn it around against stiff competition from Mr. Slim and the growing presence of Telefónica in the Mexican market.

The purchase of Televisa's stake requires approval of Mexican telecommunications regulators.

Write to Anthony Harrup at [e-mail]

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