El Salvador rejects Mexican tycoon Slim's bid for local Telefonica unit

SAN SALVADOR: El Salvador's competition authority on Tuesday said it had rejected a bid by Mexican telecoms company America Movil to acquire the local unit of Spanish rival Telefonica, arguing the planned takeover did not meet anti-trust requirements.

In January, Telefonica reached a deal to sell operations in Guatemala and El Salvador to America Movil. The Spanish company said the Salvadoran part of the deal had an enterprise value of 277 million euros ($309 million).

In a statement, the Superintendence of Competition (SC) said the bid by America Movil, which is controlled by the family of Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, was "inadmissible" and that the company had been informed of the decision dated April 29.

The competition authority said America Movil had on May 15 signaled that it would exercise its right soon to begin a new attempt to win approval for the Telefonica purchase.

Once America Movil takes that step, the SC would analyze the case put forward, the statement added.

America Movil did not immediately reply to a request for comment.