Intesa’s IMI, F2i to Buy Metroweb in 436-Million-Euro Deal

Intesa Sanpaolo SpA’s IMI Investimenti unit and infrastructure fund F2i SpA agreed to buy Metroweb SpA from A2A SpA and Stirling Square Capital Partners in a deal valuing the owner of Milan’s largest fiber-optic network at 436 million euros ($628 million).

Metroweb, whose network is the biggest in the northern Italian city and the surrounding region of Lombardy, has more than 7,000 kilometers (4,350 miles) of cables and covers an area with more than 2.7 million people. Stirling Square, a London-based private equity firm, bought 76.5 percent of the company in 2006 from A2A, Milan’s municipal utility, which retained the remaining 23.5 percent.