America Movil has struck a deal to buy an extra  21 percent stake in Telekom Austria from investor Ronny Pecik, increasing the Latin American operator group’s interest in Europe.

Carlos Slim-owned America Movil has already acquired a five percent stake in Austria’s number-one operator from Pecik’s Marathon Zwei Beteiligungs, according to a filing, taking its total holding to 6.7 percent. Pending regulatory approval Slim’s company will secure the further 16 percent later this year, taking its total stake to just under 23 percent.

America Movil said the acquisition positions it as “a long-term strategic partner” of Telekom Austria and that it expects to “develop a constructive relationship” with the operator’s stakeholders. Pecik is expected to remain as vice chairman of the Supervisory Board.

The filing added that the move is part of the company’s “geographic diversification strategy and provides an attractive presence in Central and Eastern Europe”. Telekom Austria has more than 20 million wireless subscribers and has operations in Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Liechtenstein, Macedonia, Serbia and Slovenia.

Earlier this week America Movil increased its stake in KPN to 7.3 percent as it continues its efforts to become a significant stakeholder in the Dutch operator group. The Mexican group said it planned to acquire a total of 27.7 percent of the company but KPN said the offer of EUR8 per share undervalued the firm.