FACTBOX-Spain's Telefonica reshapes Latin America strategy after leadership change

Nov 4 (Reuters) - Spanish telecom giant Telefonica TEF.MC has accelerated plans to reduce its exposure in Spanish-speaking Latin America, where profitability is lower than capital cost, to focus instead on four main markets under new CEO Marc Murtra.

Following both an ownership and a management shake-up in 2024, Telefonica has withdrawn from many countries in South America, building on a process that began with the sale of some Central American units in 2019.

Telefonica, which presented a new strategic plan on November 4, will now focus on four core markets - Brazil, Britain, Germany and Spain.

Below is a list of developments within the group's Latin America operations:

MEXICO

Telefonica is in exclusive talks to sell its Mexican business to Beyond ONE, the owner of Virgin Mobile Mexico, three sources with knowledge of the negotiations said in July.

Asked about the process during a second-quarter earnings call, Murtra declined to give details about possible asset sales.

ARGENTINA

Telefonica said in February it was selling its unit in Argentina to Telecom Argentina TECO2m.BA for $1.245 billion.

PERU

Telefonica agreed to sell its Peruvian unit in April to Argentina's Integra Tec International for about 900,000 euros ($1.04 million). The unit had filed for bankruptcy protection in February.

Telefonica booked 1.7 billion euros in capital losses in the first quarter on the sale of its units in Peru and Argentina.

VENEZUELA

The head of Telefonica Venezuela, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zarco, rejected speculation that the subsidiary was being put up for sale when speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a Caracas event in September.

In February, Rodriguez said it planned to invest $500 million in the country over two years to expand 4G and 5G services.

COLOMBIA

Telefonica agreed in March to sell its majority stake in its Colombian unit for $400 million to Millicom International MICC.F, which operates telecom companies across Latin America under the Tigo brand.

URUGUAY

Telefonica sold its Uruguayan unit for $434 million to Millicom.

ECUADOR

Telefonica sold its unit in Ecuador to Millicom for $379 million.

CHILE

Telefonica Chile said in October that it had received non-binding expressions of interest and conducted due diligence with several potential buyers for its assets, without mentioning them.

Earlier that month, Mexico-based America Movil AMXB.MX said it signed a non-binding agreement with Entel ENTEL.SN to jointly explore an offer for Telefonica's assets in Chile.

EL SALVADOR

Telefonica sold its mobile phone unit in El Salvador in 2021 to General International Telecom in a deal valued at $144 million.

PANAMA

Telefonica sold its Panama unit in 2019 to Millicom for 536 million euros.

COSTA RICA

Telefonica sold its Costa Rica unit in 2020 to Liberty Latin America in a $538 million transaction.

NICARAGUA

Telefonica's mobile telecom assets in Nicaragua were sold to Millicom in 2019 for an original cash consideration of $437 million.

GUATEMALA

Telefonica sold its operations in Guatemala to rival America Movil for 293 million euros in 2019.

BRAZIL

Telefonica's Sao Paulo-listed unit Telefonica Brasil VIVT3.SA is part of its four "core businesses". The subsidiary carried out several small acquisitions, such as cloud services firms IPNET and IPNET USA, for up to 230 million reais ($41.49 million) in 2024.

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