Telefonica has made a surprise buyout bid for Brazilian incumbent mobile operator Vivo, but its €6.3 billion offer was rejected by Portugal Telecom (PT).
Telefonica said it had offered €5.7 billion for the 50% stake held in Brasilcel owned by PT.
Brasilcel owns around 60% of Vivo.
Telefonica said the offer also stipulated that it would pursue all the remaining ordinary shares in Vivo for a further €600 million.
The offer values Vivo at around 140% higher than its current market capitalization, Bloomberg said.
But PT late last night revealed its board had decided to unanimously reject the offer.
“Vivo is core to PT’s strategy and the sale of its stake would be against the long term growth prospects of PT,” the directors said in a joint statement.