Telecom Italia, CDP Start Network Talks as KKR Bid Falters
KONTAN.CO.ID - MILAN. Telecom Italia (TIM) has signed a non-disclosure agreement with Italian state lender CDP to start formal talks on potentially combining the phone group's network with that of smaller broadband rival Open Fiber. The move comes as TIM boss Pietro Labriola, presses ahead with a plan to revamp Italy's biggest phone company centred around a split of its wholesale network operations from its service business.
The start of talks, announced by the company on Saturday is yet another sign that TIM plans to chart a different course to a non-binding approach for all of its business made by U.S. fund KKR in November. TIM kept KKR waiting for four months before agreeing in March to engage in talks, while pressing ahead with its standalone reorganisation to unlock what the group calls its "untapped value".
