Carlos Slim’s America Movil Boosts Stake in Telekom Austria

Billionaire Carlos Slim is increasing his bet on Austria’s biggest phone company.

(Bloomberg) — Billionaire Carlos Slim is increasing his bet on Austria’s biggest phone company. 

Slim’s America Movil SAB acquired a 5.55% stake in Telekom Austria AG from a private investor, the company said in a filing to the Mexican stock exchange on Monday. The sale increased the company’s shareholding to 56.55% from 51%. 

The move is the latest in what’s been a busy year for the billionaire. Just last week, Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas SA approved an initial public offering of its own shares to reduce share capital by 7%. In June, America Movil sold about $1 billion of Mexican peso-denominated bonds.  Slim made one of his largest oil investments yet for $125 million. 

America Movil in February reached a deal to spin off the infrastructure unit of Telekom Austria into a separate company as Slim seeks to overhaul the Austrian telecommunications business. America Movil closed a €500 million loan and launched a €500 million bond to fully fund the company at the time of the spin off, which is expected to close in the third quarter.  

America Movil trading volume spiked to more than 16 times the 20-day average. Price remained unchanged. Shares of Telekom Austria rose 1.04%. 

The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

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