Macquarie move for Open Fiber could smooth Italian network merger

The Australian investment group Macquarie has made an offer to acquire the 50% stake in Italian wholesale network operator Open Fiber which is currently owned by local utility group Enel. A report from Reuters says that the move could ease the way for Open Fiber to merge its infrastructure assets with those of Telecom Italia (TIM) to create a nationwide broadband network, in a tie-up which has been under discussion since last year. Open Fiber’s other shareholder is Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP), the Italian state lender which is also one of the biggest investors in TIM. In a statement on Tuesday (16 June), Enel said its board had received a non-binding bid from Macquarie Infrastructure Real Asset on 10 June for ‘the acquisition of the whole or part of the stake’.