Norwegian telco Telenor acquired Serbia’s Mobi63 for $1.93bn in a public auction in Belgrade on Monday.Telenor won the auction by beating off bids from Austria’s Mobilkom and Egypt’s Orascom.

Mobi63 was owned by the Serbian government and a consortium of Austrian investors. No ownership percentages were available.

Telenor initially bid $1.658bn, around $600m more than a minimum price of $1.020bn, set by the Serbian government. Offered prices could go up by $25.5m in each round of bidding.

New reports are emerging that China Mobile is in place to buy Millicom International Cellular (MIC), after South African operator MTN yesterday announced a surprise agreement to acquire Dubai based telecoms investor Investcom for $5.53bn (ВЈ3bn).

As a result of the agreement MTN’s subscriber base would increase to 28.1 million across 21 countries, making it the second biggest mobile operator in the region, behind Egypt’s Orascom Telecom.

Investcom also said it had withdrawn its offer to buy MIC, which has been on sale since January. The news will come as a blow to MIC, with reports indicating Investcom had tabled a leading $5bn offer for the company.

Other bidders in the running for MIC are believed to have placed offers well under $5bn, and China Mobile has been named as a bidding party once again, despite denying interest.

Late last month, the leading Chinese operator denied that it, or its parent, had made a bid for MIC.

Other interested parties are thought to be Egypt’s Orascom, Kuwait’s MTC, Norway’s Telenor and Mexico’s America Movil.

Leading Chinese operator, China Mobile, on Thursday rebuked reports that it has tabled a $4bn (ВЈ2.2bn) bid for Millicom International Cellular (MIC).

The buzz was generated by a report in the Financial Times on Wednesday, which put China Mobile in the frame but did not name sources.

The deadline for the second round of bids for Millicom is expected to expire in the next few days, after the company’s call for acquisition offers in January.

The most likely bidders in the second round are thought to be Egypt’s Orascom, Dubai’s Investcom, Kuwait’s MTC, Norway’s Telenor and Mexico’s America Movil. Vodafone is believed to have lost interest in Millicom.

The China Mobile spokesman did confirm that the operator is looking to acquire assets in emerging markets.

Millicom has operations in Southeast and south Asia, Central America, South America and Africa.