LONDON - Carlos Slim Helú’s European expansion plans may be running into trouble.
A Dutch foundation with the power to block the proposed 7.2 billion euro, or $9.5 billion, bid for the Dutch company KPN by América Móvil, the Latin American telecommunications giant owned by the Mexican billionaire, has said it is concerned about the deal.
On Friday, América Móvil announced that it was offering to buy the 70 percent of KPN, the former Dutch mobile phone monopoly, that it does not own.
Analysts said the deal, which will be put to shareholders in September, may be an attempt to scupper the proposed sale of KPN’s German subsidiary, E-Plus, to a Spanish rival, Telefónica, in a cash-and-stock deal worth 8.1 billion euros.
In a statement released late on Tuesday, the KPN Foundation, an independent entity in the Netherlands that has the right to veto hostile takeovers, said it was concerned about América Móvil’s unclear plans for the Dutch telecommunications company.
“There is considerable uncertainty about América Móvil’s intentions in the light of its only briefly clarified announcement of its intention to make a public offer for the shares in KPN it does not already own,†the foundation said in a statement.
Under Dutch law, the foundation, which was created when KPN was privatized starting from the mid-1990’s, has the right to buy the outstanding so-called preference stock in the Dutch company, which carry voting rights. This form of call option would allow the foundation to block América Móvil’s proposed takeover.
Shares in KPN, which have fallen 44 percent in the last 12 months, dropped 2.9 percent, to 2.27 euros, in morning trading in Amsterdam on Wednesday. América Móvil plans to offer investors 2.40 euros for each of their shares in KPN, according to a company statement.
A key battle in the takeover of KPN is the future of E-Plus, which will be decided at an upcoming meeting of KPN’s shareholders. The Dutch company had agreed to sell the unit to Telefónica in July, though analysts warned that América Móvil may look to keep the unit if its takeover is successful.
In a statement last week, América Móvil said it had yet to decide how to vote on the pending E-Plus disposal. On Friday, KPN also said that it would continue with the shareholder meeting to decide the fate of E-Plus, despite the proposed takeover offer from América Móvil.
The prospective deal for KPN comes at a time of shifting alliances in the European telecommunications sector. So far this year, deals involving European telecommunications companies represent around 77 percent, or $81 billion, of the globally announced takeovers in the sector, according to the data provider Mergermarket.
