Spain Telefonica to buy out wireless unit

MADRID, March 16 (UPI) -- Spanish telecom group Telefonica announced Thursday it planned to buy out the minority shareholders of its wireless phone unit.

The plan calls for a stock-swap buyout of the 7.5 percent of Telefonica Moviles that it does not already hold at a cost of around $4.2 billion.

Telefonica has been on a program to streamline its corporate operations, a strategy the Financial Times said included a similar buyout of its Terra ISP and the unloading of U.S. portal Lycos.