Telco, the holding company that controls Telecom Italia (TI) has confirmed that it has had no contact with Hong Kong-based conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa, or indeed TI’s management, regarding a possible tie-up between the two firms. According to Italian press reports, Hutchison Whampoa has set its sights on securing a 29.9% stake in TI and is willing to pay EUR1.20 (USD1.57) for the shares.
In related news, Spanish giant Telefonica is willing to end its six-year investment in TI, by selling its 10.5% stake in the company. Bloomberg, citing ‘two people with knowledge of the matter’, says that Madrid-based Telefonica is reluctant to do a deal in which it would take further losses, but is keen to offload its TI shares after the two companies have failed to generate synergies in the years following Telefonica’s initial investment.