Italian state lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) has increased its stake in Telecom Italia (TIM) to 8.7%, investing EUR960 million (USD1.08 billion) in the process, CorCom reports. It has been rumoured that CDP is looking to take an interest in TIM of up to 10% ahead of a crucial shareholder assembly on 29 March which could decide the future direction of the telco.
The Italian government is also a 50% shareholder in wholesale network operator Open Fiber – again via CDP – and it has been suggested that TIM should spin off its fixed network assets and merge these with Open Fiber to create a single state-backed network operator.