Brazil prosecutors ask antitrust body to block Oi mobile ops sale

Telefonica Brasil, SA

07/02/2022 12:56

BRASILIA, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Brazil's prosecutor's office
said on Sunday that antitrust regulator Cade should block the
sale of Oi SA  OIBR4.SA  mobile operations to local rivals TIM
SA  TIMS3.SA , Telefonica Brasil's Vivo  VIVT4.SA  and Claro, a
subsidiary of Mexico's America Movil  AMXL.MX .
    Waldir Alves, who represents the prosecutor's office at
Cade, said the deal should be blocked due to a "competition
violation," also mentioning "potential exclusionary practices."
    CADE is expected to analyze the matter on Wednesday's
agenda.
    Telecom Italia's  TLIT.MI  TIM said in a statement that the
deal will boost competition, investments and technology
development in the coming years, adding that it will acquire
most of Oi's assets.
    The deal is under scrutiny since late 2020, when the three
companies won the assets in an auction that was contested by
rivals such as Algar Telecom. They submitted a joint bid of 16.5
billion reais ($3.12 billion).  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2U81ZC
    The sale was approved by Brazilian telecom regulator Anatel
last week.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nE1N2TY006


($1 = 5.2962 reais)

 (Reporting by Ricardo Brito; Writing by Gabriel Araujo;
Editing by Louise Heavens)
 ((Gabriel.Araujo2@thomsonreuters.com; +55 11 5644 7745;))