TIM Participacoes (TIM Brasil), Brazil’s second largest wireless carrier by subscribers, last Friday denied it is holding negotiations with rivals Grupo Oi SA and Global Village Telecom (GVT) for a possible merger or a takeover bid, Reuters reports. TIM Brasil submitted a securities filing dismissing a report in the Valor Economico newspaper claiming that obstacles surrounding a merger between Oi and Portugal Telecom (PT) were forcing Vivendi-backed GVT to consider a tie-up with TIM Brasil. ‘We come here to inform our shareholders, markets in general and whom this may concern that there is no negotiation in place between the company and Oi, or the company and GVT, involving any potential acquisitions or business combination – as cited by the report,’ the filing noted.
