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Analysts are dubious of the AT&T purchase rumors

Reports have surfaced that AT&T is looking to make an acquisition in Europe. AT&T could possibly be considering the purchase of Dutch carrier KPN or UK carrier Everything Everywhere in an effort to offset slowing growth within the U.S. Word of a potential AT&T buyout of Dutch provider KPN sent shares in the Dutch wireless carrier up 3.8% to close at €4.40, a five-week high.

AT&T and KPN have made no official comment on rumors of a potential purchase.

Analyst Jos Versteeg from private Dutch bank Theodoor Gilissen says that companies like AT&T could benefit from buying European rivals to create economies of scale. The analyst says that this move would be similar to the international expansion of British carrier Vodafone. However, a large portion of KPN is owned by a Mexican billionaire named Carlos Slim.

"Slim owns almost 30 percent. I don't see him selling now. He is a long-term investor. AT&T doesn't stand a chance buying KPN," Versteeg said."

Another analyst, Robin Bienenstock from Bernstein, noted that AT&T and Carlos Slim's company America Movili had attempted to work together in a bid for Telecom Italia in the past. She notes that she sees little chance of AT&T making a takeover in Europe.

Source: Reuters


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Competition
By chmilz on 1/17/2013 10:50:19 AM , Rating: 2
Maybe they'll learn what that is.




RE: Competition
By ShieTar on 1/17/2013 10:55:54 AM , Rating: 2
Has somebody explained to AT&T just how much money T-Mobile have lost with their grand plans of "north-american expansion to offset slow growth in germany"?


RE: Competition
By Samus on 1/18/2013 2:04:14 AM , Rating: 2
I remember reading a Deutsche Telecom PR in 2010 right before the AT&T deal went public showing it'd cost around 80 billion dollars just to get the T-mobile network coverage on par with Sprint.

Yes. Sprint, which I have, and roam on almost daily.


RE: Competition
By kattanna on 1/17/2013 12:12:22 PM , Rating: 2
im hoping they will learn what customer service is...


RE: Competition
By chmilz on 1/17/2013 6:08:09 PM , Rating: 2
Nah, bad customer service is a global constant.


Seriously?
By safcman84 on 1/18/2013 4:13:49 AM , Rating: 2
In France I can get a 20 euro a month contract, which has unlimited calls to French mobile phones, 3G Internet access (up to 3 Gb downloads per month, after which speed is limited), free phone calls to fixed lines to 40 different countries.......

WTF would an American service provider offer to Europeans that they don't have already? Even if they buy out an existing provider in the EU, they would have to compete with EU pricing, which is a much lower profit margin than in the USA.




RE: Seriously?
By Strunf on 1/18/2013 8:45:05 AM , Rating: 2
Lower profit margin is still profit, AT&T could also get better deals on trans-Atlantic and other international communications than European carriers.


Sceptical
By Ammohunt on 1/17/2013 11:38:40 AM , Rating: 2
Seriously is there anything that AT&T can offer Europeans that other carriers haven't already? All carriers are subject to wacky European Telecom laws.




Might be a good move
By woody1 on 1/17/2013 12:25:01 PM , Rating: 2
This might be a good move for AT&T. European telecom stock prices are beaten down now and probably a good value. Also, the EU is cooking up some kind of policy change that will allow all the EU telcos to pool money for infrastructure investment. AT has a long history of working within a regulatory framework in the US and could probably navigate those waters in Europe as well as anybody. They're probably running all kinds of analyses to see how they can cash in on the upcoming EU policy changes before the market figures it out.




Slim chance he sells, then :)
By CityZen on 1/17/2013 12:27:00 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
a Mexican billionaire named Carlos Slim

a Mexican billionaire? Carlos Slim is the richest person in the world and the partial or full owner of several cell phone companies. Not that I particularly like him, or see any virtue in wealth alone, but when you have more money than Bill Gates, I think that you at least deserve to be named without the "a".

As a side note, a small typo, Slim's conglomerate of cell phone companies in the Americas is "America Movil"




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