Telefonica lined up a fresh suitor for its mobile business in Costa Rica after the collapse of a proposed deal with Millicom, El Economista reported .  

The newspaper stated Telefonica advanced negotiations to the point where it began due diligence processes to produce necessary data for an unnamed party. It tipped America Movil as the most likely candidate for the assets, but noted a bid could face regulatory challenges.

GSMA Intelligence Q2 estimates place Telefonica’s Movistar brand as the second-largest operator in Costa Rica, with America Movil brand Claro third. Combining the two would reduce the number of players from three to two, but the market would still be led by state-owned operator Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE), which was estimated to hold a 53.6 per cent share.

AT&T and Liberty Global were also rumoured to be in the running for Telefonica’s business.

Millicom backed out of a $570 million deal for the business in May, citing a failure to secure regulatory approvals.