Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris plans to bid for Brazilian wireless carrier TIM Participa��es SA, according to a newspaper interview published on Saturday, adding pressure to a delicate standoff between two European telecom giants. Sawiris told Folha de S.Paulo that Spain's Telefonica SA has pushed TIM Brasil's parent company, Telecom Italia SpA, to break up the Brazilian unit and sell it to local players including Telefonica Brasil."That is an idea defended by Telefonica on the board of Telecom Italia and I am vehemently against it, because it will devalue not just Telecom Italia shares, but also the assets of all the parts," said Sawiris, a minority shareholder of the Italian company.TIM Brasil, Telecom Italia, and Telefonica did not immediately respond to requests for comment.Sawiris, who runs Orascom Telecom Media and Technology , has tried to break into the Brazilian market before and was looking to take a larger share of Telecom Italia before Telefonica tightened its grip.
Telefonica SA is a Spain-based company active in the telecommunications and digital services sectors. Shares of TEF fell by 5.17% or $-0.85/share to $15.58. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $12.31 and as high as $18.05. On average, 1022350 shares of TEF exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 3565998.
Shares of TI fell by 5.13% or $-0.58/share to $10.73. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $6.20 and as high as $11.61. On average, 255035 shares of TI exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 156946.
Shares of TI-A fell by 4.19% or $-0.3701/share to $8.46. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $4.86 and as high as $9.05. On average, 53076 shares of TI-A exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 27113.
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