Yesterday Mexican broadcaster and media company Grupo Television announced it had wrapped up the sale of its 50 percent stake in wireless operator Iusacell back to joint-venture partner Grupo Salinas.
The deal paved the way for AT&T to close on its acquisition to buy Iusacell for $2.5 billion, which was announced in November of last year. The deal would net AT&T Iusacell’s licenses, network assets, retail stores and its approximately 8.6 million subscribers. Iusacell operates a network that covers about 70 percent of Mexico’s population.
Iusacell was a joint venture between Grupo Salinas and Grupo Televisa, who each owned a 50 percent stake. Televisa had previously agreed to sell its half to Grupo Salinas before the latter sold Iusacell to AT&T. Last month AT&T received regulatory approval in Mexico for its bid to buy Iusacell.
Televisa used some of the proceeds from the Iusacell deal to buy Cablevision Red, which is a regional cable operator that has 650,000 subscribers for its triple play services, for $204 million.
