Insiders

Slim seeks to sell minority stake in tower company Telesites: sources

May 26, 2017 at 05:42 pm EDT

(Reuters) - Billionaire Carlos Slim is looking to sell a minority stake in Telesites SAB de CV (>> Telesites SAB de CV), the Mexican wireless tower company that he controls, people familiar with the matter said on Friday.

The move comes 18 months after sweeping regulatory reforms forced Slim to spin off Telesites from telecommunications company America Movil SAB de CV (>> America Movil SAB de CV). Telesites shares have risen only slightly since then, as the company struggles to diversify beyond America Movil as its main client.

Slim and family members own about 61 percent of the shares, according to Telesites' annual report.

Slim is speaking to private equity firms, sovereign wealth funds and infrastructure funds about selling the stake without giving up control of Telesites, the people said this week.

The sources requested anonymity because the talks are confidential and cautioned that a deal was not certain.

Telesites declined to comment. A representative for Slim, whose net worth is pegged by Forbes at $65 billion, also declined to comment.

Since its spin-off in December 2015, Telesites has been unable to attract many tenants to the towers besides America Movil and its mobile unit, Telcel. It competes with American Tower Corporation (>> American Tower Corp) in Mexico.

"We see little progress in third-party usage of Telesites' towers," Itau BBA analyst Gregorio Tomassi said in a May 3 research note. It noted that AT&T, another wireless player in Mexico, has not increased its demand for Telesites towers.

Private equity firms have traditionally invested in tower companies for their steady cash flows. Buyout firm KKR & Co LP (>> KKR & Co. L.P.) bought a 40 percent stake in Spain's Telefonica SA's (>> Telefonica SA) tower subsidiary Telxius earlier this year for 1.275 billion euros.

Telesites has a market capitalization of 38.52 billion Mexican pesos ($2 billion). The shares closed at 11.440 pesos on Friday on the Mexican stock exchange.

(Reporting by Liana B. Baker in San Francisco; Additional reporting by Anthony Esposito in Mexico City; Editing by Richard Chang)

By Liana B. Baker

Stocks treated in this article : Telefonica SA, KKR & Co. L.P., America Movil SAB de CV, American Tower Corp, Telesites SAB de CV

Stocks mentioned in the article

	Add to a list Add to a list 0 selected To use this feature you must be a member Log in Sign up	Price	Change	5d. change	Capi.
	AMÉRICA MÓVIL, S.A.B. DE C.V.	19.6 MXN	+0.67%	+0.36%	56.25B
	LINE CORPORATION	5,350 JPY	-.--%	-0.19%	12.52B

Carlos Slim Helú

Founder of 5 different companies, notably: America Movil SAB de CV, Teléfonos de México SAB de CV and Grupo Financiero Inbursa SAB de CV, Carlos Slim Helú is an entrepreneur and businessperson who has been the head of 13 different companies and currently holds the position of Chairman for Minera Frisco SAB de CV, Chairman at Asociación Mexicana de Intermediarios Bursátiles AC, Chairman of Instituto Carlos Slim de la Educación, A.C., Chairman at América Telecom SA de CV, Chairman of Carso Infraestructura y Construcciones SA de CV and Chairman at Promotora del Desarrollo de América Latina SA de CV. He is also Chairman of Fundación Telmex AC, Chairman of Fundación Carlos Slim Helú AC and Chairman of Telemex Foundation AC and on the board of 10 other companies. In the past he occupied the position of Chairman for Carso Global Telecom SAB de CV, President for Bolsa Mexicana de Valores SAB de CV, Chairman at Teléfonos de México SAB de CV (he founded the company in 1990), Director at America Movil SAB de CV and Chairman Emeritus at Grupo Financiero Inbursa SAB de CV. Carlos Slim Helú received an undergraduate degree from Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.

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Linked companies
América Telecom SA de CV América Telecom SA de CV Wireless TelecommunicationsCommunications América Telecom SA de CV provides cellular and telecommunication services. It provides telecommunication services, through its subsidiary Telcel, in the nine mobile regions into which Mexico is divided. Its other subsidiaries include Corporativo Empresarial en Telecomunicaciones, Orca, Technology Fund One, Enitel Intelsat, Construccion y Servicios Internacionales, Techtel LMDS Comunicaciones Interactivas SA, Telet SA, Americel SA, Comunicacion Celular SA, Consorcio Ecuatoriano de Telecomunicaciones SA, Telecomunicaciones de Guatemala, SA, Telcel CompUSA, Inc., TracFone Wireless, Inc., Arbros Communications, Inc. and Genesis Telecom CA, which operate in various countries in the American continent. The company was founded in December 2001 and is located in Mexico City, Mexico.	Chairman
MINERA FRISCO, S.A.B. DE C.V.	Chairman

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