Feb 10 (Reuters) - Spanish telecom giant Telefonica has accelerated plans to reduce its exposure in Spanish-speaking Latin America, where profitability is lower than capital cost, to focus instead on
Telefonica Shifts Focus in Latin America After Leadership Changes
Telefonica's Latin America Restructuring
Feb 10 (Reuters) - Spanish telecom giant Telefonica has accelerated plans to reduce its exposure in Spanish-speaking Latin America, where profitability is lower than capital cost, to focus instead on four main markets under new CEO Marc Murtra.
Following both an ownership and a management shake-up in 2024, Telefonica has withdrawn from many countries in South America, building on a process that began with the sale of some Central American units in 2019.
Telefonica, which presented a new strategic plan in November, will now focus on four core markets - Brazil, Britain, Germany and Spain.
Country-Specific Developments
Below is a list of developments within the group's Latin America operations:
Mexico
MEXICO
Telefonica is in exclusive talks to sell its Mexican business to Beyond ONE, the owner of Virgin Mobile Mexico, three sources with knowledge of the negotiations said in July.
In November, Murtra named Mexico as one of the markets it planned to exit, without providing further details or timelines.
Argentina
ARGENTINA
Telefonica said in 2025 it was selling its unit in Argentina to Telecom Argentina for $1.245 billion.
Peru
PERU
Telefonica agreed to sell its Peruvian unit in 2025 to Argentina's Integra Tec International for about 900,000 euros ($1.04 million). The unit had filed for bankruptcy protection in February.
Telefonica booked 1.7 billion euros in capital losses in the first quarter on the sale of its units in Peru and Argentina.
Venezuela
VENEZUELA
At the company's Capital Markets Day in November 2025, Murtra said Venezuela was among the markets it planned to exit within its Latin America divestiture strategy.
Earlier last year, the head of Telefonica Venezuela, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zarco, said it planned to invest $500 million in the country over two years to expand 4G and 5G services.
Colombia
COLOMBIA
Telefonica agreed in 2025 to sell its majority stake in its Colombian unit for $400 million to Millicom International, which operates telecom companies across Latin America under the Tigo brand.
In early February, the Spanish company completed the sale of 67.5% of Colombia Telecomunicaciones to Millicom Colombia.
Uruguay
URUGUAY
Telefonica sold its Uruguayan unit for $434 million to Millicom.
Ecuador
ECUADOR
Telefonica sold its unit in Ecuador to Millicom for $379 million.
Chile
CHILE
Telefonica agreed in February to sell 100% of its mobile unit in Chile to French holding company NJJ and Luxembourg-based Millicom, both owned by billionaire Xavier Niel, for a fixed value of around $1.22 billion.
El Salvador
EL SALVADOR
Telefonica sold its mobile phone unit in El Salvador in 2021 to General International Telecom in a deal valued at $144 million.
Panama
PANAMA
Telefonica sold its Panama unit in 2019 to Millicom for 536 million euros.
Costa Rica
COSTA RICA
Telefonica sold its Costa Rica unit in 2020 to Liberty Latin America in a $538 million transaction.
Nicaragua
NICARAGUA
Telefonica's mobile telecom assets in Nicaragua were sold to Millicom in 2019 for an original cash consideration of $437 million.
Guatemala
GUATEMALA
Telefonica sold its operations in Guatemala to rival America Movil for 293 million euros in 2019.
Brazil
BRAZIL
Telefonica's Sao Paulo-listed unit Telefonica Brasil is part of its four "core businesses". The subsidiary carried out several small acquisitions, such as cloud services firms IPNET and IPNET USA, for up to 230 million reais ($41.49 million) in 2024.
($1 = 0.8393 euros)
($1 = 5.1937 reais)
(Reporting by Benjamín Mejías Valencia; Editing by Inti Landauro, Rachna Uppal, Jan Harvey and David Latona)
