Telefonica Said to Use Part of $3 Billion Stuck in Venezuela
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Telefonica SA plans to increase spending in Venezuela this year to hedge against a further decline in the value of cash it can’t repatriate to Spain, according to a company presentation seen by Bloomberg News.
Telefonica, which expanded in Venezuela with the 2004 takeover of BellSouth Corp.’s Latin American wireless business, accumulated dividends valued at 18.8 billion bolivars ($3 billion) over the past seven years, according to the internal documents dated April 9. The dividends have lost about $1.4 billion in value, taking into account the February devaluation of the bolivar to 6.3 per dollar from 4.3.