HispanicBusiness

Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim got one step closer to holding nearly 26 per cent of Austria's largest telecommunications group, when a regulatory body in Vienna Tuesday approved his plan to buy more Telekom Austria stocks.

Slim's company America Movil wants to increase its share in the partly state-owned Telekom Austria from currently 9.9 per cent by the end of the year, by buying stocks from an Austrian investor.

The deal would give the Mexican group access to markets in South-Eastern Europe, where Telekom Austria has subsidiaries.

The Telecom Control Commission ruled that the partial takeover would not result in less competition.

America Movil operates various telecommunications firms in North and Latin America. In Europe, it owns nearly a quarter of the Dutch provider KPN, as well as the shares in Austria.

Slim is the world's richest man according to Forbes magazine, worth an estimated 69 billion dollars.