Colombia Telecom Sale Set for April

The Colombian government will set the sale date for the 50 percent plus one share of the state-owned telecom company, Colombia Telecom, for April 7. Citicorp is advising the government on the sale and it expects to receive approximately $350 million from the privatization. Spain’s Telefonica, Mexico’s Telmex and Venezuela’s CANTV are all expected to bid. The government is holding on to almost half the company to ensure the privatization does not lead to the creation of a private quasi monopoly as it did in many Latin American countries, most notably Mexico.