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Televisa buys stake in Nextel Mexico

February 17, 2010

Televisa, Mexico's largest broadcaster, has spelt out its ambitions to expand into the country's cellular telecommunications market with the purchase of 30 per cent of Nextel Mexico for $1.4 billion.

Under the deal, Televisa will pay cash for the mobile operator, which is an unlisted subsidiary of NII Holdings. It will also have the option to increase its stake by 7.5 per cent on the third or fourth anniversary of its initial investment.

The transaction reflects an implied pre-investment value of Nextel Mexico of $4.3 billion. Both companies said the purchase was subject to the Nextel/Televisa consortium being awarded licences in upcoming spectrum auctions in Mexico.

“There are significant synergies between Nextel Mexico's wireless offerings and our extensive base of pay-TV subscribers,” said Emilio Azcárraga Jean, chairman and chief executive of Televisa. “With this venture we will be able to offer to our customer base the first quadruple play in Mexico, which paves the way for a successful integrated media and telecom strategy.”

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