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Italy: Telecom Italia overhaul plans unravel in a matter of days

By  |  July 16, 2013

Due to financial disagreements, Telecom Italia’s plans to spin-off its fixed-line business and merge its wireless services with Hutchinson Whampoa Ltd. seem to be over, according to reports. Telecom Italia’s CEO Franco Bernabe developed the merger plans over the last two months to revive the company, which would have seen the wireless branch of the company combine with Hutchinson’s 3 Italia unit. Reports say the deal is off, however, as the parties could not reach an agreement of financial terms of the deal. The merger additionally raised various antitrust concerns, and Italy’s communications watchdog recently issued a ruling to cut fees for consumers to access Telecom Italia’s network, further complicating a merger. Telecom Italia shares are trading at their lowest levels in nearly 16 years, say reports; the company remains in debt three-times its market value.

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