ATLANTA-BellSouth Corp. said it has completed the sale of its 10 Latin American wireless operations for Telefonica Moviles S.A. following the transfer of its ownership interest in Argentina. BellSouth noted it received $674 million for its Argentina operations, and it plans to recognize an after-tax gain of approximately $330 million to $340 million, or approximately 18 cents per share, during the first quarter of this year.
The $5.85 billion sale, which also included BellSouth’s operations in Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, Colombia, Nicaragua, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela and Chile, was announced last March. BellSouth said it would use proceeds from the sale to help fund its U.S. wireless venture Cingular Wireless L.L.C.’s $41 billion acquisition of AT&T Wireless Services Inc., which was approved last October.
Analysts noted the deal will add approximately 14 million subscribers to Telefonica’s operations and propel the carrier past Mexican-based America Movil as the region’s largest mobile operator.
