Green light for the transfer of the control package of Telecom Argentina to Mexican entrepreneur David Martinez's Fintech fund. This was decided yesterday by the new Argentine telecommunications authority, the Ente Nacional de Comunicaciones (ENACOM). Telecom Italy had signed an agreement in November 2013 to sell the controlling stake in the Argentine investee to Fintech for $960 million.
The passage had been blocked by AFTIC, the previous supervisory authority, which was replaced by the new Argentine president, Mauricio Macri. enacom, approving the go-ahead for the operation, highlighted that “there is no impediment to that Fintech is at the same time a controlling shareholder of Telecom Argentina and a minority shareholder of Cablevision/Nextel, and who, likewise, does not violate the 50mhz limit for mobile operators given that his voting rights in Cablevision/Nextel are reduced to 14% of actions".
The news immediately accelerated Telecom Italia's stock to Business Square, which in the morning is above the euro per share threshold (at the opening it was worth exactly 1 euro), even gaining more than 3% to 1,033 euro in a market that loses 11% at 1,18 am. The shares were driven not only by the now imminent sale of assets in Argentina but also by the rumors about a possible change at the top. In fact, yesterday rumors returned to circulate about the possible appointment of a new CEO in place of Marco Patuano, favored by strengthening of the grip of Vivendi on Telecom (the French increased their stake to 23,8%). Today press reconstructions suggest a confirmation from the manager until the expiry of his mandate next year as more probable.
