Latin America and Africa operator Millicom sealed its acquisition of Telefonica’s business in Panama, the second part of a $1.7 billion multimarket deal to close.
The agreement, announced in February, also covers Telefonica’s operations in Nicaragua and Costa Rica.
Its acquisition of Movistar Nicaragua completed in May, while the Costa Rica deal is still undergoing regulatory review. On announcing the original agreement, Millicom said it expected all three to be completed in the second half of 2019.
In a statement on the latest completion, Millicom said Movistar Panama would add 1.6 million mobile customers and the deal “accelerates the execution of Millicom’s fixed-mobile convergence strategy and helps consolidate the company’s leadership position in Central America.”
Millicom already owns fixed company Cable Ona in Panama, having acquired it in October 2018 as part of an attempt to diversify its operations across Central and South America. Its strategy to focus on the region follows its divestment of a number of assets in Africa.
Telefonica’s exit from the three markets follows its sale of operations in Guatemala and El Salvador to America Movil earlier this year.
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