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[reuters] A final decision on a merger plan by Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim that would tie up his regional telecommunications assets is tied up in bureaucratic red tape and therefore delayed, Mexico’s market regulator said on Monday.

America Movil executives said last week they expect to launch tender offers for Carso Global Telecom and Telmex Internacional this month, after having originally planned to begin them in April. All the companies are controlled by Slim.

“That the authorization has not been granted is nothing serious,” Guillermo Babatz, head of the National Bank and Securities Commission, said at the Reuters Latin American Investment Summit in Mexico City. He added the delay has been due to paperwork.

Reacting to tougher competition in the region, Slim unveiled a plan in January to shift control of his Mexican fixed-line company, Telmex, and regional fixed-line group Telmex Internacional into America Movil, the largest cellphone operator in Latin America.

Carso Global Telecom is a holding company Slim uses to control his stake in Telmex. Mexico’s competition regulator has already approved the merger.

By consolidating his companies, Slim plans to create a much larger operator, able to offer wireless, fixed-phone, Internet and video services to counter rising competition from regional telecommunications rivals such as Spain’s Telefonica SA

Mexico regulator sees no problem with Slim plan