Vodafone, Verizon Surprised By 320-Million-Dollar Iusacell Tax Debt
e-topics.com
[Comtex]
Infolatina via NewsEdge Corporation : MEXICO CITY, May 4, 2001 (Reforma/Infolatina via COMTEX) -- U.K. mobile telephone giant Vodafone Group, which earlier this year paid more than 900 million dollars in cash for a 34.5-percent stake in Mexico's Iusacell, was surprised to learn after the acquisition that Iusacell has amassed 320 million dollars in tax debt, according to a report in Mexico City daily Reforma. U.S.-based Verizon Communications, which owns a 39-percent stake in the Mexican mobile carrier, also only learned of Iusacell's tax debt after Vodafone bought into the company, Reforma business columnist Alberto Aguilar reported. Vodafone and Verizon both own stakes in Nuevo Grupo Iusacell, a corporate entity that was created to expand Iusacell's credit-raising capacity. That the new corporate entity had inherited a tax debt from Iusacell's previous corporate identity was unknown to Vodafone and Verizon until after Vodafone completed the acquisition of its stake in the company, according to the report.
Copyright 2001 Infolatina, all rights reserved.
================
Ooh, what a nasty surprise. Didn't they get a good look at the books before they bought in. Did the Mexicans pull a fast one? |
