MILAN (Reuters) – Telecom Italia (TIM) has attached an enterprise value of around 20 billion euros ($21.5 billion) to its landline grid which the former phone monopoly is considering selling as part of plan to create a national fibre network controlled by state lender CDP, two sources said on Tuesday.
The plan, sketched out in a preliminary agreement on Sunday, aims to combine TIM’s fixed network with that of CDP-controlled broadband rival Open Fiber.
TIM CEO Pietro Labriola is looking to revive debt-laden TIM’s fortunes and the group could make a full exit from its landline network business to focus on its service operations.
One of the sources said such a valuation does not include synergies which would be created from a combination with rival Open Fiber, which is 60% owned by state lender CDP.
A second source said it has not been decided yet how much debt would be included in any transaction. As of March 31, TIM’s net debt was 23 billion euros.
TIM declined to comment. ($1 = 0.9325 euros)
(Reporting by Elvira Pollina and Gianluca Semeraro; Editing by Keith Weir)
