NII Holdings negotiates then terminates $1.44 billion contract to sell equity stake in Nextel Mexico to Grupo Televisa

Client(s) NII Holdings, Inc.

Jones Day advised NII Holdings, Inc. in the negotiation and subsequent termination of a contract for the $1.44 billion sale of a 30% equity stake in Comunicaciones Nextel de Mexico, S.A. de C.V. to Grupo Televisa, S.A.B. Under the agreement, Televisa would have invested $1.44 billion in cash for an initial 30% equity stake in Nextel Mexico, which reflected an implied pre-investment value of Nextel Mexico of $4.3 billion. Televisa would have been granted an option to acquire an additional 7.5% equity interest in Nextel Mexico that would have been exercisable on either the 3rd or 4th anniversary of the completion of the initial investment. Televisa is the largest media company in the Spanish-speaking world. It is dominant in Mexico in areas such as cable, satellite and television, but has little to no wireless-phone presence. Competition in Mexico's telecom industry, dominated by tycoon Carlos Slim's America Movil, is heating up as the government auctions wireless spectrum after years of delays and litigation. Televisa and Nextel Mexico jointly bid, and were successful in Mexico's auction for 3G spectrum that is now owned by Nextel Mexico.