Brazil's Claro To Take Over Amazonia Celular From Vivo - Report

SAO PAULO -(Dow Jones)- Brazil's No. 3 cellphone operator Claro may take over Amazonia Celular, despite its purchase by rival Vivo Participacoes in an auction, according to a report in local business daily Gazeta Mercantil Wednesday.

Claro, which is controlled by Mexico's America Movil, could take over the company with 1.5 million clients in the sparsely populated northern states of Amapa, Maranhao, Para and Roraima because Vivo already operates in the region, breaking telecom industry regulations.

Vivo, which is jointly controlled by Spain's Telefonica and Portugal Telecom, acquired control of the local operators Telemig Celular Participacoes and Amazonia Celular, at auction.

Claro is interested in Amazonia Celular as it is the only operator not present in the region, according to the report.

The previous owners of Amazonia, Citigroup, a group of local pension funds and Banco Opportunity, will sign a deal directly with Claro, rather than Vivo passing on the asset, the report said.

-By Alastair Stewart; Dow Jones Newswires; 5511 3145-1479; alastair.stewart@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

Posted to the site on 5th September 2007