By Manuela Mesco
ROME--Telecom Italia SpA (TIT.MI) has appointed advisors to
proceed with the spin-off of its fixed-line network, Chief
Operating Officer Marco Patuano said Tuesday.
Speaking on the sidelines of an event in Rome, Mr. Patuano said
the advisors for the operation are Morgan Stanley (MS), Intesa
Sanpaolo (ISP.MI), Mediobanca (MB.MI)and Barclays Bank (BARC.LN),
MF Dow Jones reports.
In October, Italy's largest telecom operator announced that it
had launched a process to select advisors. The company stressed at
the time that the advisory activity will be "merely intended to
acquire technical, economic and financial value elements".
The network spin-off will be discussed in a board meeting in
December and a decision could come by the end of the year, Chief
Executive Franco Bernabe previously said. But the details of the
operation are not yet clear.
When asked whether Telecom Italia could be interested in Vivendi
SA's (VIV.FR) Brazilian unit GVT, Mr. Patuano said, "Gvt is a
fixed-line operator in Brazil and we are the second mobile operator
in the country. We're looking at it as you look at many other
things."
Write to Manuela Mesco at manuela.mesco@dowjones.com
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