Carlos Slim’s America Movil eyes stake in Telekom Austria: report

Carlos Slim, the world's richest man, is eyeing a stake in Telekom Austria, just a week after he offered to buy a stake in Dutch telecoms company KPN NV for $3.5 billion, Austrian magazine Format reported yesterday, without citing sources.

Slim's telecom company America Movil has held initial talks with two of Telekom Austria's largest shareholders - Austrian state holding company OeIAG, which holds a 28.4 per cent stake and Austrian investor Ronny Pecik and his partner Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris, who collectively hold 20 per cent.

The magazine also said that both Pecik and Sawiris may not sell and hold their stake for up to two years before selling to a strategic investor.

With plans to enter into the European mobile market due to low valuations of companies,  America Movil had last week offered to buy a 23.2 per cent stake in KPN for $3.5 billion. America Movil already holds 5 per cent in KPN.

Vienna-based Ronny Pecik and Naguib Sawiris, the Egyptian tycoon who holds an 18.8 per cent stake in telecoms giant Vimpelcom Group, have been seeking two seats on an expanded supervisory board at Telekom Austria.

Telekom Austria, which operates in Serbia, Belarus, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Liechtenstein Croatia and Macedonia, is the largest telcoms operator in its home country.