America Movil Seeks Brazil Expansion by Partnering With Oi for Tim

Mexico's America Movil said it plans to enter talks to make a joint bid with Brazil's Oi for Telecom Italia's wireless unit in Brazil. Andrew Bulkeley, correspondent for The Deal, says the partnership would make sense for both parties. He says Oi, which is saddled with debt, needs a financially strong partner like America Movil, while America Movil needs to seek deals outside of Mexico, where it's gaining too much market share. Amid rumors that Oi has also been seeking to draft Telefonica, Brazil's biggest wireless company, into a joint bid for the unit, Bulkeley says it's unlikely that competition regulators would approve as Telefonica already owns the biggest cellular company in Brazil.