A company controlled by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim has bought a Manhattan townhouse near Central Park and adjacent to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a spokesman said.

The century-old townhouse located in upper Manhattan is one of the few such buildings left over from its period on Fifth Avenue, according to The Wall Street Journal.

"Slim is one of many (purchasing) partners," said a spokesman for Slim-controlled Grupo Carso.

The spokesman would not confirm the reported sales price of $44 million.

Slim, who owns a telecommunications empire stretching from the United States to Argentina and is the world's richest man according to Forbes magazine, is a major investor in The New York Times.