Italy’s incumbent telecoms provider, Telecom Italia has begun official talks with the board of the country’s broadband network owner, Open Fiber, about a possible merger between the two companies.
In May this year, Telecom Italia's chief executive officer, Luigi Gubitosi, has said he would welcome such a move, believing it to be in the best interest of both parties.
Telecom Italia has now acknowledged that formal talks are underway in order to discuss “possible forms of integration” of the two networks, according to a report in the Financial Times.
Italy’s government has long expressed its desire to have one single provider for its next generation network of fibre to the home broadband services.
A proposed deal to merge with Open Fiber has been a point of conflict at Telecom Italia’s board meetings, which have seen main shareholder Vivendi and activist investor, Elliott Managaement, enter a 12 month long feud over a range of issues. Last week however, both Vivendi and Elliott Management said that they would be prepared to set aside their differences and work together to resurrect the fortunes of the company. Entering formal talks with Open Fiber could be the first evidence of that new found pragmatism.
Source: https://www.totaltele.com/503242/TIM-and-Open-Fiber-formally-open-merger-talks