Regions

Carlos Slim's company, America Movil, announced today that it would support Telefonica's acquisition of Royal KPN's E-Plus unit. This was after the Spanish company offered a sweetened bid by EUR450 million. Over the weekend, representatives from America Movil and Telefonica had discussed revised terms prior to approval. This was according to four people who were familiar with the talks but ask not to be named as the matter was private in nature.

America Movil owned approximately 30% of KPN. In the acquisition deal, a total of USD7 billion in potential savings and added revenue was deemed to occur. The merger of Telefonica with E-Plus would create a carrier with more than 43 million clients.

Telefonica and KPN had not secured America Movil's backing which triggered Slim to offer a bid for KPN shares he does not own. This was according to people familiar with the matter. Telefonica Deutschland Holding AG is led by Chief Executive Office Cesar Alierta.