VIENNA--A take-over bid for Telekom Austria AG (TKA.VI) can be
ruled out for the near future, the company's chief executive
officer told Austrian newspaper Kurier in an interview published
Friday.
Hannes Ametsreiter said "a majority stake take-over is not in
sight at the moment because neither a further privatisation nor a
capital increase is planned."
The Latin American telecommunications company America Movil
S.A.B. de C.V. (AMX.MX) recently acquired a 23% share in Telekom
Austria, triggering speculation about the Mexican-based company's
intentions. Telekom Austria's largest shareholder is the Austrian
state through its holding company Oesterreichische Industrieholding
AG with 28%. A privatisation mandate is necessary should another
company wish to become a majority shareholder.
Mr. Ametsreiter said his relationship with the new stakeholder
is good and that a working group is looking into synergies with
America Movil.
He said Telekom Austria's strategy of buying up cable network
operators in countries where it already has mobile services will
continue, adding that this is also the strategy adopted by America
Movil in Latin and South America.
In a separate article published Friday in the business daily
Wirtschaftsblatt, Mr. Ametsreiter defended this week's decision to
cut Telekom Austria's dividend for 2012 and 2013 to 0.05 euros
($0.06) from a guidance for 2012 of EUR0.38 a share.
"We see a difficult business outlook with major investments
ahead of us," he said.
Kurier web site
http://kurier.at/wirtschaft/unternehmen/4513718-ametsreiter-sind-eine-spannende-aktie.php
Wirtschaftsblatt website
http://wirtschaftsblatt.at/home/nachrichten/dossiers/telekom_austria/1295212/Ametsreiter_Vorige-Woche-war-ich-in-Mexiko?from=suche.intern.portal
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