2024-2025 Telecom M&As shake up the mobile and fiber races across Latin America

More than $5 billion in M&A transactions for the mobile, fixed broadband and pay TV segments have been registered by S&P Global Market Intelligence Kagan in Latin America and the Caribbean from the first half of 2024 to the first half of 2025, raising expectations for new investments in a region that could still be considered as greenfield for 5G and fiber optics deployment.

The Take

➤ M&A transactions in the region are changing Latin America's telecom market, with players such as Telefónica Hispanoamérica S.L. exiting five markets and new companies taking its place.

➤ Telefónica's deals in Ecuador, Uruguay, Peru, Argentina and Colombia add up more than $3 billion, but are still subject to regulatory approval.

➤ Mexico's federal government is seeking to take over the majority stake of Red Compartida's wholesale mobile network, originally created to become a "carrier of carriers," over the 700 MHz band.

➤ Fiber operators' acquisitions are becoming a trend in a region that bets on this technology to increase fixed broadband access points, all due to the rise in demand for over-the-top services with low latency.

M&A is shaking up the mobile and fixed telecom segment in Latin American and the Caribbean, with players such as Spain's telco Telefónica SA pulling out of five of the region's most important economies while other companies grow their presence.

Kagan estimates that there were 19 major transaction announcements in 2024 that accounted for more than $3 billion. In most cases, the deals included the acquisition of mixed operators, with assets in fiber, tower infrastructure and pay TV.

Expectations for 2025 are even higher, as eight M&As announced during the first six months of the year already add up to more than $2.69 billion, prepping the stage for new competitors after some years of inactivity in the market.

Overall, Kagan has identified 27 relevant transaction announcements between the first half of 2024 and first half of 2025. Most of them are taking place in Brazil, with 37% of the total, followed by Colombia with five, Chile with three and Peru and Costa Rica each with two. Other countries such as Mexico and Uruguay each have one major M&A in 2025.

-  Already a client? See full list of transactions here.

Telefónica’s departure

At the center of these transactions from the first half of 2024 and the first half of 2025 are Telefónica's deals in Colombia, Peru, Argentina, Uruguay and Ecuador. The Spanish telco has decided to sell all its operations as part of the divesting plan announced in 2019 for its Spanish-speaking Latin America business.

Together, the five ongoing transactions add up more than $3 billion, according to information disclosed by the seller throughout the period, but regulatory approval is still pending in all nations.

The most recent transaction announcement came from Ecuador, where Telefónica announced on June 13 that it sold 100% of its unit to Luxembourg-based telecom group Millicom International Cellular SA. This news was followed by the company’s deal in Uruguay, where Telefónica Hispam said on May 21 that it also reached an agreement with Millicom to sell all its shares for $440 million.

In Peru, the deal to transfer operations of Telefónica Perú to Argentinian group Integra Tec International Inc. was closed on April 13 for about $1 billion. In Colombia, the Spanish giant signed a definitive agreement on March 12 with Millicom to sell 67.5% of its shares in Colombia Telecomunicaciones S. A. E.S.P. BIC (Movistar, known locally as Coltel) for $400 million. And in Argentina, Telecom Argentina SA was named the potential buyer of Telefónica's local operation for $1.25 billion, the biggest sale in the region during this period.

Out of all Telefónica Hispam's markets, Colombia stands out with the strongest EBITDA, $385.2 million reported at the end of 2024. It is followed by Argentina with $323.7 million and Peru with $128.7 million. Financial data for Uruguay and Ecuador, on the other hand, is not reported solely.

In terms of accesses, Colombia also stands out as the business with the most mobile subscribes out of the four operations at the end of 2024, over 20.77 million that are consolidated under its Movistar unit. Argentina follows with nearly 18 million and Perú comes last with 10.23 million at the end of 2024. But considering market shares on Q4 2024, Movistar had 29.8% of Argentina’s market (Claro was the leader with 42.9%) and 24.5% in Peru (behind América Móvil’s Claro, with 30.3%), while its Colombian operation was the third, with 14.4% (behind Tigo and Claro). According to Kagan, Telefónica Uruguay had 1.15 million subscribers at the end of 2024.

In terms of fixed broadband connections, the company reported 1.55 million for Colombia at the end of the same year, 1.54 million for Argentina and 1.46 million for Perú. For pay TV households, Colombia came at the top again with 911,290, Perú with 858,250 households and Argentina with 424,540. Telefónica does not have fixed broadband or Pay TV accesses in Uruguay.

The circumstances and opportunities change for every nation. To find out more, read full article in the link for clients.

Mexico’s Quetzal Project

Another transaction worth keeping an eye out in 2025 is in Mexico, where the government has rolled out a plan to acquire, through its power utility company (CFE), 49% of Altán Redes, the public-private partnership (PPP) consortium that manages the wholesale Red Compartida (shared telecom network).

The consortium was created after the 2013 telecom reform to become a carrier of other carriers and deliver connectivity to places where big players did not have coverage. However, this original goal envisioned has faced several financial and technical obstacles throughout the years, to the point the federal government recued it from insolvency in 2022.

The idea behind acquiring the majority of its shares, in addition to absorbing 24% of the company’s corporate rights and debt, is that the network will help reach President Claudia Sheinabum’s digital divide goals.

Together, the utility’s telecom unit, CFE Telecomunicaciones e Internet para Todos (CFE-TEIT), and Altán have 11,383 towers (25.8% of Mexico’s tower market, behind only Telesite’s 42% of market share) in 82,178 localities with more than 24 million inhabitants, CFE said on statement the day its board approved the M&A, dubbed the Quetzal project.

An amount for the transaction has not been disclosed, but the deal was approved by telecom watchdog IFT on January 17 with conditions so Altán Redes can continue operations with autonomy.

Atlán was entrusted to deploy the Red Compartida wholesale network under the 700 MHz band, aiming to deliver 4.5G LTE technology with a 4Mbps downstream speed nationwide. Most of Mexico’s mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) use this infrastructure, including Walmart’s Bodega. Together, all of those smaller MVNOs represented 15.2% of Mexico’s mobile market by the end of 2024. 

Ø  Read Kagan’s most recent country profile on México here.

Tower deals

Tower M&As in Latin America have been actively happening since 2015, reaching more than $16.3 billion in 32 deals over the decade.

Kagan estimates that a least 134,496 sites changed hands during these years due to consolidations and a reduction of carriers. However, the segment expects more movements with the roll-out of 5G that is yet to take off in most of the nations.  

·       To see the full list, click here, on the clients-only article’s version.  

Fiber deals

Latin America is seeing a fast growth in its fiber optics networks thanks to heavy investments in the technology, which is becoming that favorite choice for fixed broadband households. Kagan estimates that fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) became the lead internet platform for Latin America in 2022 and Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina and Perú led in 2023 the race of nations with the highest penetration.

From H1 2024 to H1 2025, Kagan detected five significant deals related to the acquisition of optics fiber infrastructure or operators. Among these stands out the purchase of Miami-based company Gold Data assets in Panama and Costa Rica, which signals potential for growth and further consolidations in the future.