LONDON - The Dutch cellphone operator KPN announced on Monday that it would book a $4.9 billion loss on the sale of its German unit E-Plus to the Spanish giant Telefónica.
KPN, the former Dutch mobile phone monopoly, is facing a 7.2 billion euro takeover offer from the Latin American telecommunications company América Móvil. It agreed to sell E-Plus to its Spanish rival for 8.6 billion euros earlier this year.
In a brief statement on Monday, KPN’s chief executive, Eelco Blok, said the company would use the 3.7 billion euro loss to offset taxable income in the Netherlands starting in 2014. The move marks a change of fortune for KPN, which had previously attempted to expand its operations into Germany to diversify from its home market.
Analysts said the company’s reduced tax bill could make KPN more valuable to América Móvil, which already owns a stake of just less than 30 percent.
So far, efforts by América Móvil, which is owned by the Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim Helú, to acquire the Dutch company have not gone to plan.
After increasing its minority stake in KPN over the last year, América Móvil has faced vocal opposition from an independent foundation connected to KPN that has moved to block the deal.
The foundation, which has exercised its right to acquire just less than 50 percent of the voting rights in KPN, said it viewed América Móvil’s 2.40-euro-a-share offer as a hostile takeover and has called on the company to discuss its plans with KPN’s management.
Last week, both KPN and América Móvil said that they were still discussing the tentative bid, though the Latin American company has said that it could walk away from the deal if the foundation does not back down from its demands.
The multibillion-dollar tax loss comes after a lukewarm reception by América Móvil over Telefónica’s initial bid for E-Plus. The two companies already compete in many Latin American markets, and América Móvil has said that it plans to use its investment in KPN to expand its presence in the European market.
Despite the rivalry between the two companies, Telefónica eventually increased its offer to 8.55 billion euros from 8.1 billion, a deal that eventually secured the backing of América Móvil.
