Mexico’s National Antimonopoly Commission (CNA) approved the sale of Telefónica’s Movistar business after finding “few probabilities” that the deal would harm competition. The ruling clears a major regulatory hurdle for a transfer involving a mobile business with 20.1 million prepaid and postpaid customers, while the buyers have six months to close.
A Commission Clears the Transfer
The CNA board approved the merger on 24 September, with four votes in favour. The parties formally notified the deal on 28 May. The resolution was reported on 2 October 2026, and approval runs for six months from the business day after notice takes effect.
Expansión put the closing deadline in March 2027. The parties can request one extension for a similar period if they justify it; El Economista calculated that an extension would move the final deadline to the last week of September 2027. The sale hasn’t been completed. The final price and exact closing date remain unannounced.
Melisa Acquisition, a consortium led by US firm OXIO and Newfoundland Capital Management, agreed in April to pay US$450 million for Telefónica’s Mexican business. The deal covers all shares in Pegaso PCS and Celular de Telefonía, the two companies that make up Telefónica México. Through Pegaso, the buyer will also acquire a stake in GTAC, a fibre-optic network; the size of that stake is redacted.
Customers Inside a Corporate Reshuffle
Movistar returned its mobile spectrum and no longer operates a national access network. Since 2019, it has operated as a virtual operator on AT&T’s infrastructure, while retaining its network core, customer systems and service centres. Expansión counted 20.1 million prepaid and postpaid customers; the headline of its 2 October report rounded the figure to 21 million.
The business’s pre-tax result shifted from a €7 million loss, about US$7.9 million, to a €14 million profit in 2025, El Economista reported. The euro figures use a rate of 0.889 euros per US dollar, the rate at the close on 2 October. That profit came alongside losses in customers, revenue and market share during the same year.
Telefónica’s sale forms part of its retreat from Spanish-speaking Latin America. The group wants to focus on Spain, Brazil, Germany and the United Kingdom and has already sold units elsewhere, including its Chile business. In Mexico, América Móvil dominates in users, revenue and infrastructure.
OXIO plans to move the operation to a cloud platform and add satellite links and artificial intelligence services. In September, it said customer data would be stored in Amazon Web Services data centres in Querétaro.
More Authorities, More Conditions
After closing, both companies have 30 business days to provide proof of the transaction to the CNA and file data showing its final value in Mexico. Telefónica said in April that the price was subject to adjustment. The resolution warns that missing the filing could lead to daily fines.
The CNA said its resolution didn’t prejudge permits from other authorities. When the deal was announced, Telefónica identified the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (CRT) as another regulator whose approval was needed. Neither company had publicly said whether that approval had been granted. So the commission’s clearance opens the gate; other authorities and closing conditions still govern when control actually changes hands.
The buyers have six months to close.