America Movil Says Prepared To Walk Away From $9.6 Bln KPN Buyout Offer

(RTTNews) - America Movil S.A.B. De C.V. (AMX, AMOV) Friday said it continues to be committed to the intended $9.6 billion offer for Dutch telecom group Koninklijke KPN N.V. (KKPNY.PK, KPN), however it is prepared to withdraw its offer, if the KPN Foundation seeks to prevent the buyout offer.

América Móvil noted that the board of the Stichting Preference Shares B KPN, an independent foundation linked to the Dutch telecom group, has exercised the option granted by KPN to purchase class B preference shares in the capital of KPN, and it has issued about 4.258 billion class B preference shares to the Foundation. The shareholding will represent 50 percent minus 1 vote of all issued and outstanding shares in the capital of KPN.

The telecommunication services provider said, it has operating knowhow and scale that KPN lacks, and the Foundation's stance is detrimental to KPN's customers, employees , shareholders as well as to telecommunication services in the Netherlands.

It was on August 9 that América Móvil, controlled by billionaire Carlos Slim, said it plans to make a voluntary tender offer of 2.40 euros per share in cash for the remaining shares of KPN for an estimated value of $9.6 billion. América Móvil currently holds nearly 30 percent stake in KPN.

According to the foundation, its move was to safeguard the interests of KPN and its stakeholders, as the Mexican telecom giant América Móvil announced its intention to make an offer for KPN shares without prior consultation with KPN.

The foundation is considering the buyout offer as hostile, as América Móvil went to the Dutch regulators with the offer document for approval, instead of trying to reach a merger protocol agreement with KPN.

The foundation said it supports KPN's sale of German mobile telecommunications business E-Plus to Telefonica Deutschland Holding AG, a unit of Spanish telecommunication group Telefónica S.A. (TEF, TDE.L).

América Móvil, which provides telecommunication services in Latin America, has been KPN´s largest minority shareholder since June, 2012.

América Móvil noted that from the beginning, it has tried to cooperate with KPN and create value for KPN's stakeholders, and that its recent efforts allowed KPN to receive 500 million euros more for the sale of its German asset than had been offered by Telefónica.

In Amsterdam, KPN shares are currently trading at 2.17 euros, down 5.03 percent. AMX ended on Thursday at $19.26 on the NYSE.