Vimpelcom and Hutchison Whampoa have confirmed talks about a possible joint venture between their respective Italian mobile units, Wind Telecomunicazioni and 3 Italia.
Both parent companies noted that any transaction would be subject to, among other…
Vimpelcom and Hutchison Whampoa have confirmed talks about a possible joint venture between their respective Italian mobile units, Wind Telecomunicazioni and 3 Italia.
Both parent companies noted that any transaction would be subject to, among other things, “achieving satisfactory debt levels and obtaining all required corporate and regulatory approvals”.
The statements followed a Bloomberg report that the two companies had agreed upon Wind CEO Maximo Ibarra leading the combined company. 3 Italia chief Vincenzo Novari would reportedly become a board member and also have a supervisory role.
The two companies, which have for years been discussing a tie-up, and before that, a combination of their tower operations, together have some 30 million customers and last year reported some €6.4bn (US$7.2bn) in revenue.
Hutch has been leading four-to-three mobile consolidation in Europe, buying O2 Ireland and Orange Austria, and agreeing to buy O2 in the UK. In Germany, Telefonica’s local business merged with KPN’s E-Plus. European competition officials have so far cleared each in-market consolidation deal, with conditions.
