Telecom Italia on Thursday confirmed plans to float a substantial portion of its shares in towers company INWIT.
The Italian incumbent said it will go ahead with the sale of up to 40% of INWIT, or Infrastrutture Wireless Italiane, via an initial public offering.
It did not provide details of the expected valuation of the company.
As of the end of last year, INWIT had control of around 11,500 towers in Italy.
Telecom Italia is following in the footsteps of a number of telcos that have elected to monetise their passive infrastructure in recent years.
In Italy, rival operator Wind sold a 90% stake in its towers business to Cellnex Telecom, formerly known as Abertis, for €693 million in March. That deal included the sale and leaseback of 7,377 towers.
Further afield, earlier this month Saudi Arabia’s Mobily confirmed that it is considering the sale of its mobile towers portfolio.
The operator issued a statement to that effect after unnamed sources cited by the Wall Street Journal claimed it was courting potential buyers with a view to raising US$1.5 billion-$2 billion from the sale of 10,000 towers.
