News
Italian incumbent reportedly in talks over deal that would ramp up Enel rivalry.
Telecom Italia is negotiating a deal to swap a stake in its wholesale arm TI Sparkle for fibre operator Metroweb.
Sources cited in a Reuters report on Saturday claimed that the Italian incumbent is holding talks with state-owned bank Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP), which controls Fondo Strategic Italiano (FSI), one of Metroweb’s parents, the other being infrastructure fund F2i.
A separate report on Saturday by La Repubblica claimed that Telecom Italia will offer to pay cash for F2i’s 54% stake in Metroweb and exchange a 25% stake in TI Sparkle for the 46% of Metroweb held by FSI.
Acquiring Metroweb would ramp up the rivalry between Telecom Italia and electricity provider Enel, which last month unveiled plans for a €2.5 billion fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network. With a 7,200-kilometre dark fibre network, Metroweb would give Telecom Italia’s footprint a significant boost.
Telecom Italia has been repeatedly linked with Metroweb in recent years.
It expressed interest in taking control of the company in November 2014, and again in April 2015, only to be rebuffed by FSI.
In October last year, Telecom Italia resumed talks with F2i and FSI over building a shared FTTH network, but no deal emerged.
