Italian incumbent Telecom Italia is reportedly considering whether to acquire local mobile operator 3 Italia from Hong-Kong-based conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa.
Goldman Sachs and BoA Merrill Lynch have been informally mandated to work on a merger plan,…
Italian incumbent Telecom Italia is reportedly considering whether to acquire local mobile operator 3 Italia from Hong-Kong-based conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa.
Goldman Sachs and BoA Merrill Lynch have been informally mandated to work on a merger plan, according to reports citing Italian daily Corriere Della Sera, which did not state where it got the information.
Reports suggest the talks would value 3 Italia at E4.3bn, including some tax losses.
TI, 3 Italia and Goldman Sachs declined to comment on the speculation. BoA Merrill Lynch was unable to comment before the press deadline.
However, this is not the first time reports have pointed to 3 Italia being a takeover target for TI.
Back in November 2008, Italian publication Il Sole 24 Ore cited 3 Italia CEO Vincenzo Novari saying that the two had discussed a merger plan, but that this fell through because of disagreements about the price and concerns over antitrust regulations.
In addition, last month reports citing Egyptian businessman Naguib Sawiris suggested Italian mobile operator Wind Telecom was open to integrating with smaller operators in Italy, including 3 Italia, Tiscali and Fastweb.
No concrete plans have been made, but there are opportunities for creating synergies with those companies, Sawiris reportedly said, without elaborating further.
