Italian broadband provider Fastweb is not up for sale, the CEO of its parent company Swisscom has said.
Urs Schaeppi said the company is looking to sell non-core assets, such as real estate and some media operations, in an interview with…
Italian broadband provider Fastweb is not up for sale, the CEO of its parent company Swisscom has said.
Urs Schaeppi said the company is looking to sell non-core assets, such as real estate and some media operations, in an interview with Bloomberg.
However, the Swiss incumbent intends to invest further in Fastweb and is not entertaining any talks or negotiations to sell the business.
He also added that management does not plan to reduce its indirect 10.6% stake in Milan-based dark fibre operator Metroweb, which has attracted interest from both Telecom Italia and Vodafone.
In recent months, Italian infrastructure fund F2i, which owns 53.8% of Metroweb, has been in talks with both parties to negotiate a potential partnership or stake sale.
Schaeppi said that Fastweb is Metroweb’s most important customer in Milan, so Swisscom has an interest to see the company developing.
In an interview with TelecomFinance last November, Swisscom CFO Mario Rossi said the operator would only look at selling Fastweb if a bidder came with a “very, very attractive offer”. “If somebody were to present a very, very attractive offer, we would, like any other board of this world, have a look at it,” he said.
Fastweb is reported to be worth up to €5bn (US$6.2bn). Vodafone is most often named as the unit’s main suitor; with rumours of a deal circulating since June 2013.
