By Elvira Pollina
MILAN (Reuters) – Iliad is ready to buy some of Vodafone’s Italian assets that could become available once the regulator rules on a planned tie-up between the British company and Swisscom in Italy, a document reviewed by Reuters showed.
The Italian antitrust authority (AGCM), whose approval is required to complete the deal, last month opened an in-depth review of Swisscom’s buyout of Vodafone Italia, a deal worth 8 billion euros ($8.6 billion).
AGCM said the merger could restrict competition as it would create a dominant player in Italy’s fixed-line wholesale service market, as well as in retail services to residential, public administration and corporate customers.
In particular, AGCM said the Vodafone-Fastweb tie-up would leave the new entity and Telecom Italia (TIM) as just two main competitors for contracts with enterprise customers and in tenders to serve public administration clients.
In a hearing with antitrust officials held in September as part of the probe, Iliad called for the regulator to demand the spin-off and the sale of Vodafone’s fixed-line arm, minutes of a video-conferenced meeting reviewed by Reuters showed.
Iliad representatives added the French company would be available to act as ‘remedy taker’ and buy the spun-off division to secure the “required infrastructure and customer base to compete stably” in the business segment and in public administration tenders.
Iliad, Swisscom, Fastweb, Vodafone and AGCM all declined to comment.
Iliad had repeatedly attempted to buy Vodafone’s Italian subsidiary, which has extensive mobile operations, earlier this year and in 2022.
Founded by French billionaire Xavier Niel, Iliad launched low-cost mobile services in Italy in 2018, intensifying aggressive price competition in the country’s mobile market, where it now serves around 11 million customers.
It also expanded in the full-fibre connectivity business, in which it has a limited presence.
AGCM’s in-depth review of the Vodafone-Swisscom deal could last until Dec. 10, before a 30-day potential extension. Swisscom plans to finalise the deal in the first quarter next year.($1 = 0.9261 euros)
(Reporting by Elvira Pollina; Editing by Keith Weir)
