P.M. BRIEFING : Bell Pulls Out of Argentine Deal
The Bell Atlantic consortium withdrew its winning bid to buy 60% of the northern half of the Argentine telephone monopoly Entel, it was announced at a news conference.
A spokesman for the public works ministry said late Thursday that a consortium led by the Italian telephone company Stet will instead take over the northern half of the company. That group is composed of Stet, France Cables et Radio, Perez Companc and Morgan Bank.
Spain’s Telefonica de Espana and Citicorp won the bid to buy the controlling interest in the southern half of Entel.
The sale of Entel is part of a larger plan by Argentine President Carlos Saul Menem to privatize money-losing state-owned business.
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