America Movil ends KPN pact, may opt for buy-out

Dutch telecom group KPN's biggest shareholder, billionaire Carlos Slim's America Movil, has ended an agreement to keep its holding below 30 per cent, a sign that it may bid for the whole company.

America Movil was entitled to end the agreement after its regional rival Telefonica bid €8.1 billion for KPN's prized German unit E-Plus, casting doubt over the future of Movil's European investment.

America Movil now may increase its shareholding to the level that would trigger an offer for the whole of KPN, but it is not clear that the Latin America-focused company is ready to take such a big step in Europe.

That it ended the standstill and shareholder agreement was to be expected but it does not shed much light on what Slim plans to do about his reported opposition to the E-Plus deal. – (Reuters)