America Movil launched a public tender to acquire the shares in Telekom Austria it does not already control, following its agreement with state-backed shareholder OIAG at the end of April.

Under Austrian law, the Carlos Slim-controlled operator group must bid for the remaining shares after it secured control of Telekom Austria through the deal with OIAG.

America Movil holds a 27 per cent stake in Telekom Austria which, together with the 28 per cent stake held by OIAG, means it controls 55 per cent of the group.

Reuters sources said America Movil set aside up to €1.4 billion to buy out minority shareholders in the mandatory public offer.

Shareholders have eight weeks in which to tender their shares for acceptance, with the period ending at 17:00 CET on 10 July.

America Movil is reportedly using Telekom Austria as a base from which to expand further into Europe.

“There came a point where we felt there was just not very much more to be done in terms of expansion in the Americas,” Garcia Moreno, America Movil’s CFO, was quoted as saying by Reuters.

Telekom Austria already has a presence in seven central and eastern European countries outside its domestic market, but Moreno said America Movil would consider making purchases beyond the Austrian incumbent’s footprint.

The company failed in a bid to takeover Dutch operator group KPN in October last year after the deal was blocked by a shareholder advisory group.