Telekom Austria Group has denied reports that it is planning further expansion in eastern Europe with major shareholder Carlos Slim in the driving seat. Since he took a 22.76% stake in Telekom in 2012, speculation has been rife that his growing boardroom influence would prompt the Austrian group to transfer its existing eastern European assets into a new holding company to allow the Mexican magnate to inject more capital into the non-Austrian aspects of the business – believed to be his key area of focus. Answering a shareholder’s question at the company’s annual general meeting, board member Rudolf Kemler clarified: ‘There are no concrete plans for an eastern Europe expansion, and we are not planning to set up a holding company. If Telekom Austria would need extra capital for an acquisition then we would have to see, but that’s not an issue at the moment’.