Report: Telefonica to relocate Latin America headquarters to Brazil

Telefonica (NYSE: TEF) may move its Latin American operations headquarters from Madrid to Sao Paulo, according to reports in a Spain-based publication cited by Telecompaper.

The Telecompaper report cited a Cinco Dias article which quoted people reportedly close to the company.

The article went onto say that as part of the move, Santiago Fernandez Valbuena, president of Telefonica Latinoamerica, will relocate to Brazil.

At the end of the year, the service provider plans to reveal a new structure of its Latin American business, a market that's become increasingly profitable at a time when its European operations have suffered due to the region's ongoing economic crisis.

If it moves its operations to Sao Paulo, Telefonica will be able to more rapidly make necessary corporate decisions because it will eliminate the time difference between Latin America and Spain.

Latin America, along with Germany, continues to be a star performer in the telco's international portfolio.

Driven by both mobile and wireline broadband, Telefonica reported in its Q2 financial results that the Latinoamerica unit revenues were €14.96 million ($18.7 million) in the first six months of 2012. In the wireline segment, service bundling was a critical factor. Telefonica said that during the quarter, 75 percent of fixed access customers had signed up for some form of bundled offer.

For more:
- Telecompaper has this article
- see the Q2 earnings release

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