Telecom Italia Will Sell Part of Vodafone Tower Joint Unit

At an investor conference, Telecom Italia CEO Luigi Gubitosi said the company would look to sell an unspecified stake in a mobile tower business being created with Vodafone Italy, to tap growing interest in the sector from financiers, Reuters reported.

Gubitosi explained there is a “large pool“ of investors moving to “alternative“ sectors due to low returns on bonds, providing a substantial pot of money for infrastructure moves. Telecom Italia and Vodafone agreed a deal to merge their Italian towers in July, a move tipped to boost deployment of 5G.

The deal involves Vodafone transferring its assets into tower business Inwit, which is 60 per cent owned by Telecom Italia. The pair will hold equal, controlling stakes of 37.5 per cent, with the option to reduce their holdings to 25 per cent after three years. Reuters noted the move is yet to be cleared by the European Commission, adding Inwit CEO Giovanni Ferigo recently said completion is expected in H1 2020.