BellSouth says in a 'holding pattern' in Latam
Reuters, 06.11.02, 1:12 PM ET
NEW YORK, June 11 (Reuters) - BellSouth Corp. (nyse: BLS - news - people), the No. 3 U.S. local telephone company, said on Tuesday it will limit any new investments in Latin America until economic conditions there improve.
"We're in a holding pattern in Latin America in terms of expansion in the wireless business ... we're going to minimize any new investments and we're watching our cash flows going into those (existing) businesses," BellSouth Chief Financial Officer Ron Dykes said at a CIBC World Markets investor conference in New York.
"Our goal is to keep these viable companies operating without any significant new cash," Dykes said.
BellSouth also continues to negotiate with its partners and banks regarding its investment in BCP, one of Brazil's largest mobile telephone companies, which operates in the Sao Paulo metropolitan area, the country's wealthiest and largest market.
"We're trying ... to come up with a capital structure that makes that business make sense," Dykes said. "At the right price and the right valuation it's part of our portfolio."
Copyright 2002, Reuters News Service
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