MADRID (Thomson Financial) - Telefonica SA reiterated that it has no
immediate plans for a merger with Telecom Italia SpA, the Financial Times
reported, citing comments by chairman Cesar Alierta.
Alierta told the FT that Telefonica's 10 percent stake in Telecom Italia is
sufficient, adding: "We have no ambitions for the time being for anything else."
Telefonica last year secured the option to acquire Telecom Italia after
joining a consortium of Italian financial institutions with a controlling stake
in the company.
But Alierta said the company will continue to focus on organic growth, aside
from plans to increase its exposure in China, where it plans to acquire a 10
percent stake in the new group created from the merger of China Netcom and China
Unicom.
Telefonica owns a 7.2 percent stake in fixed-line phone company China
Netcom, but the stake will be diluted to about 3 percent once China Unicom
acquires China Netcom this year.
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