Telefonica plans to formalise the sale of its Venezuelan unit within 12 months, according to Bloomberg, with the Spanish operator holding around 9 million Movistar subscribers in the market it has served since 1991.

The Madrid-based group is gauging potential buyers after several parties made unsolicited offers for Movistar Venezuela. Telefonica wants to weigh competing bids rather than commit to a single counterparty, though it has not ruled out keeping the operation.

Preliminary talks with US private equity firm Latin America Real Assets Opportunities (LARA) Fund have already collapsed, Bloomberg reported. The company is now waiting for Venezuelan market conditions to improve before pushing the process forward.

Why is Telefonica leaving Venezuela?

Venezuela represents one of the remaining pieces of a multi-year Latin American divestment programme. Telefonica has already exited or sold units in Chile, Ecuador, Mexico and Uruguay as part of a strategic refocus on its European footprint and Brazil. The pending Venezuela exit would extend that retreat, leaving Brazil as Telefonica's primary Latin American holding.

The 9 million-subscriber base places Venezuela among Telefonica's smaller Latin American holdings by scale. The decision to time the exit on an improvement in market conditions suggests the group wants to maximise proceeds before stepping away, rather than write the asset down entirely.

The unsolicited interest, despite the current operating environment, points to perceived upside once conditions normalise. The 1991 entry date also gives the unit unusual historical weight for Telefonica. Few of the group's Latin American operations predate it.

Who has shown interest in Movistar Venezuela?

Bloomberg did not name the parties that have made unsolicited approaches. The collapse of preliminary talks with LARA Fund, however, signals that at least one private equity group has tested the waters and walked away. Telefonica's preference for a competitive process indicates the operator wants to attract financial sponsors alongside any strategic buyers that emerge.

How does the sale process work?

Telefonica is in no rush to close a transaction. The group prefers to attract multiple bidders and run a competitive process, rather than the earlier exclusive-style engagement attempted with LARA. That approach gives Telefonica leverage on price and lets it gauge strategic fit among potential buyers.

A formal binding agreement is unlikely before the operator judges market conditions suitable. Until then, Movistar Venezuela continues to operate as a going concern under Telefonica ownership, with subscribers unaffected by the ongoing ownership review.

What does a sale mean for the market?

For the 9 million Movistar subscribers, day-to-day service continues regardless of ownership. Network operations, spectrum holdings and customer contracts transfer with the entity in any sale. Venezuela's mobile market runs on three operators — Digitel, state-backed Movilnet and Movistar — and any new owner would inherit one of only three nationwide network positions in a structurally concentrated market.

The exit also closes a chapter that began more than three decades ago, when Telefonica first entered the Venezuelan market. Venezuela ranks among Telefonica's longest-standing Latin American investments, well before the group built up its current Brazilian operations.

What happens next?

Telefonica's strategy is to wait for market conditions. The next milestone will be the operator's quarterly results, where management will likely face analyst questions on the Venezuelan timeline alongside ongoing integration work in Brazil. Until Venezuelan conditions improve, the unit will remain in appraisal mode rather than active sale, with binding bids expected only once Telefonica launches a formal mandate.