MILAN (Reuters) -Telecom Italia (TIM) does not expect any specific antitrust issues hindering the planned sale of its fixed line network assets to U.S. fund KKR , the Chief Executive of Italy’s biggest phone group said on Thursday.
“We don’t foresee specific issues… at the antitrust level,” Pietro Labriola said in a post-results call, arguing that the deal would not create any “concentration” in the market.
The planned sale, worth up to 22 billion euros ($23.61 billion), is a plank of Labriola’s revamp of the group and is aimed at slashing TIM’s debt pile and offloading more than a half of the domestic workforce on to the network company.
In the same call, Labriola said the group was fully committed to a “timely and successful” closing of the sale.
TIM expects to finalise the sale mid-year, with investor focus now turning to the strategy for the group’s remaining domestic services arm.
($1 = 0.9316 euros)
(Reporting by Elvira Pollina, writing by Giulia Segreti, editing by Alvise Armellini)
