Telefónica pulls out

The Spanish telco Telefónica has withdrawn from the race to buy a 35% stake in Tunisia’s dominant operator Tunisie Télécom. Telefónica was one of 14 groups to have submitted a bid in the partial privatization of the Tunisian firm but it has now pulled out of the auction following its recent GBP17.7 million takeover offer for UK-based mobile operator O2.