S. Korea's leading mobile carrier denies US telecom giant takeover
10/7/2007 15:53
SK Telecom Co, South Korea's biggest mobile carrier, denied a report
today that it may acquire US telecom giant Sprint Nextel Corp to strengthen its
presence in overseas markets.
"It is totally groundless," said SK Telecom
spokesman Song Gwang-hyun "The report is based on rumors and we haven't
considered it."
The Korea Economic Daily reported earlier that SK Telecom is
pushing to buy the third-largest mobile service provider in the U. S. and
contacting private equity funds for that purpose.
SK Telecom holds more than
half of the 40 million subscribers in South Korea's wireless market.
Last
year, SK Telecom built a strategic alliance with China Unicom Ltd, China's No. 2
mobile operator, by purchasing 1 billion-US dollar worth of its convertible
bonds. In Vietnam, SK Telecom expects it will attract more than 3 million users
of its mobile service by the end of this year.
Xinhua
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