America Movil Offers $9.6 Billion for Dutch Cellphone Operator KPN

LONDON - Despite Europe’s economic woes, Carlos Slim Helú is still looking for deals.

América Móvil, the Latin American phone giant owned by Mr. Slim, offered on Friday to buy the remaining 70 percent stake in the Dutch cellphone operator KPN that it did not already own for 7.2 billion euros, or $9.6 billion.

The deal would represent Mr. Slim’s largest deal outside Latin America and follows a flurry of other takeovers in the European telecommunications and cable sector, one of the few areas of activity in the Continent’s moribund mergers and acquisitions market.

América Móvil said it was offering shareholders in KPN, the former Dutch mobile phone monopoly, 2.40 euros a share for their stakes in the company, a 20 percent premium on KPN’s closing share price on Thursday.

Shares in the Dutch operator rose 16.2 percent, to 2.32 euros, in morning trading in Amsterdam on Friday.

The proposed takeover of KPN has been more than a year in the making.

Mr. Slim first moved to buy a holding in KPN last year, when the América Móvil bid up to 8 euros a share for a stake worth around 3 billion euros. After initially trying to block the Latin American phone giant’s plans, KPN eventually agreed to work with América Móvil, which now owns just less than 30 percent in the Dutch company.

“Slim paid a silly price for his first stakes in KPN,” said Stuart Gordon, an analyst at Berenberg in London. “It clearly wasn’t one of his better investments.”

Yet in sign that a potential takeover deal was in the works, América Móvil, which is being advised by Deutsche Bank, announced at the end of last month that it had ended a so-called standstill pact that had limited its holding in KPN to less than 30 percent.

The move to acquire KPN also may scupper the plans of one of its European rivals. On July 23, the Spanish telecommunications company Telefónica reached an agreement to buy E-Plus, a German mobile phone operator, from KPN in a cash-and-stock deal worth 8.1 billion euros.

By pursuing a full takeover of KPN, which would value the Dutch company at around 10.3 billion euros, analysts said América Móvil may move to block the E-Plus deal. Telefónica also could increase its offer to E-Plus to woo KPN’s shareholders, or potential bid for the entire Dutch company to gain control of its German unit, which the Spanish company plans to combine with its own German operations.

The Latin American telecoms giants said on Friday said it planned to decide about whether or not to support the proposed sale of the German subsidiary when KPN’s shareholders meet to vote on the proposed deal. América Móvil said it would put its own offer to investors starting in September.

“América Móvil is carefully evaluating the merits of the proposed transaction and will make a final determination in relation to the exercise of its voting rights at the upcoming extraordinary general meeting of KPN,” the Latin American phone giant said in reference to the Telefónica bid for E-Plus.

In a brief statement, KPN said that it had been informed about América Móvil’s offer. KPN said it would examine the offer before recommending a course of action to shareholders, and the Dutch company added that it still would continue to pursue the potential sale of E-Plus to Telefónica.

“Telefónica could still come back with a higher bid or a full offer for KPN,” said Mr. Gordon of Berenberg. “When Telefónica makes a move like this, it doesn’t like to lose.”

Mr. Slim owns a minority stake in The New York Times Company.