Telefonica Brasil on Tuesday launched a €6.7 billion takeover bid for GVT Brazil that paves the way for it to further reduce its stake in Telecom Italia.
The Spanish incumbent, which operates in Brazil as Vivo, has offered GVT parent Vivendi 11.96 billion reais (€3.9 billion) and a 12% stake in the combined Vivo/GVT entity.
"This offer underlines Telefonica's commitment to Brazil, a country where the group has been making strong investments to consolidate the growth of the telecommunication market," said Telefonica, in a statement.
Telefonica has also given Vivendi the option to purchase an 8.3% stake in Telecom Italia. Should Vivendi exercise that option, it would resolve Telefonica's long-running dispute with Brazil's antitrust authority CADE.
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