With Slim's 24% purchase of Grupo Televisa, his other telecommunication ventures and his ISP interests, I see him moving in a similar direction as AT&T, becoming a one stop media, and telecommunications monster in the hispanic community and beyond. I am VERY impressed with the stealth and magnitude of this empire. Actually, with his financial backing, and retail interests he is as much like a CMGI, crossed with AT&T crossed with NBC, with the potential to be what AMZN would like to be(a Wal-Mart of the web). Whew.
It is a mistake to view the Mexican market as inconsequential. It is also a mistake to think he won't make significant inroads north of the border.
His retail empire is shaping up as well, which gives us a weak clue to his interest in CDNW. I bet we'll know more soon.
biz.yahoo.com
Mexican tycoon Slim expands empire, but is he done?
By Karina Balderas
MEXICO CITY, May 11 (Reuters) - Mexican business tycoon Carlos Slim shelled out more than $600 million during a fast and furious first week of May, expanding his empire into diverse interests from television to French pastries, and leaving analysts guessing over his next move.
Yet he is still flush with cash -- about $760 million worth according to some analysts, who base the figure on Slim's estimated cash flow and gains made in the recent initial public offering of one of his businesses.
That has led to speculation that Slim may still be out shopping.
Nowadays when Mexicans make a telephone call, log onto the Internet, go out for a late-night bite to eat, smoke a cigarette, watch their favorite soap opera or celebrate a birthday party, they may very well be contributing to the fortune of the richest man in Mexico.
Slim is the majority owner of two of Mexico's largest companies, telephone utility Telmex (TMX - news) and industrial conglomerate Grupo Carso , which has diverse subsidiaries including telecommunications, retail and half of Mexico's cigarette duopoly.
''What they are doing is strengthening their position and growing their businesses, turning a simple telephone company into a telecommunications company and converting a few retail stores into an integrated business,'' said Sumant Vasal, an analyst with Afin Securities.
''At the end of the day they are seeing big opportunities and complementing the businesses they already have,'' Vasal said.
Of Lebanese extraction, the publicity-shy Slim is known primarily as a business mogul, though his public works give glints of his personal interests.
He is an aficionado of Mexican history, so much so that he bankrolls a foundation dedicated to protecting ancient artifacts and supporting historians. He also is a passionate fan of French sculptor Auguste Rodin, and owns the largest collection of his work in Latin America.
Slim's late wife Soumaya founded a museum which houses the Rodin collection. The conglomerate Slim founded, Grupo Carso, is named after the couple, taking the first part of both their names. The couple had six children.
Believed to be about 58 years old, Slim suffered a heart attack in 1997 and has since turned over some operations to his son, Carlos Slim Domit.
Slim's recent spending spree started when Telmex announced it had entered an alliance with SBC Communications Inc. (SBC - news) to buy a Puerto Rican cellphone firm for $814 million. Industry analysts estimate Telmex shelled out about $238 million in the deal.
Immediately afterward, Telmex decided to end its association with Sprint Communications (FON - news) and buy out Sprint's stake in their 50-50 joint venture to market long-distance service to U.S. Hispanics for what analysts believe was about $80 million.
The most unexpected news came on Thursday when Slim's venture capital fund Sinca Inbursa, a unit of his Inbursa bank , bought a 24 percent stake in the holding company of Grupo Televisa (TV - news) for $230 million. Televisa commands around three-quarters of Mexico's TV-viewing audience.
Inbursa called the deal an investment rather than a venture into broadcasting, saying it would cede voting rights to Televisa chairman Emilio Azcarraga Jean.
The investment paid off immediately as Televisa stock soared 14 percent when the deal was announced Thursday. Slim has earned a reputation as an investor with a Midas touch, so market players figured if Televisa was good enough for Slim, it was good enough for them.
The billionaire capped off his week-long spree with dessert on Friday. Carso's retail unit said it was buying at least 60 percent and perhaps all of cake-shop chain Pasteleria Francesa in a deal that could cost about $93 million.
The same day, Slim took a 5.3 percent stake in New York-based online music retailer CDnow (CDNW - news), paying some $15 million, according to a Carso spokesman.
Slim-watchers say he is likely to use SBC, a Baby Bell, as his new instrument to penetrate the U.S. telephone market now that his deal with Sprint has ended.
They also wonder how long he will remain a silent partner in Televisa, the world's largest Spanish-language broadcaster.
''Buying into Televisa means that they see opportunities in telecommunications, especially in direct-to-home (DTH) satellite television and the Internet,'' said one analyst, who asked to remain anonymous.
Slim's Carso Global Telecom already is majority shareholder of Internet provider Prodigy (PRGY - news), and Televisa has stakes in wireless communications as well as DTH.
As for the pastry shops, analysts said they fit nicely into Carso's recently revamped retail unit Grupo Sanborns , which includes Sears Roebuck de Mexico and the popular Sanborns chain of late-night restaurants and department stores.
''They already had cake and candy manufacturing and pastries, so this will bring them synergies and economies of scale,'' said Juan Carlos Mateos of Merrill Lynch. |
