Carlos Slim’s America Móvil is looking to divest in the country, and Vodafone has moved to squash rumours that it is interested in investing in the company’s assets.
Last week, America Móvil pledged to sell an undetermined number of assets in Mexico in a bid to cut its market share in the country to below 50%, and avoid harsher regulations.
Slim told reporters that he is looking to sell an “attractive” section of the company to a buyer not already present in Mexico; rousing speculation from analysts that AT&T and Vodafone are prospective contenders.
However, of the potential for Vodafone to invest in Mexico, Colao told Reuters: “I doubt it to be honest; it’s not an area we’re working on. We are going into new areas of the world, but just to serve our enterprise customers.”
As the second-largest mobile operator in the world – after China Mobile – Vodafone’s biggest market is Germany and it has not traditionally been present in Latin America.
“I have put my money into India, into Europe and into Africa,” Colao added.
Earlier this month, the EU gave unconditional approval for Vodafone’s acquisition of Spanish cable operator ONO.
