3 Italia gains approval for IPO

Italy’s market watchdog Consob has approved 3G operator 3 Italia’s IPO prospectus, enabling the cellco to press ahead with its listing on the Italian stock exchange in the first quarter. 3 had wanted to list during the fourth quarter of 2005, but Italian regulatory bodies Borsa Italiana and Consob raised issues preventing it doing so. 3 Italia, which launched in Italy in March 2003, hopes to raise up to EUR2 billion from the listing.