Deals
Sawiris Ties Interest in Telecom Italia to Telefonica’s Exit
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Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris is ready to step in and invest in Telecom Italia SpA on condition that the carrier’s largest shareholder, Telefonica SA, would exit, he said in an interview.
More than a year after Sawiris was rebuffed in his offer to acquire a stake in Italy’s biggest phone company for at least 2 billion euros ($2.7 billion), the businessman is again circling the carrier, now under new chief executive officer Marco Patuano. Spain’s Telefonica, having increased its indirect holding in Telecom Italia, is under pressure from Brazilian regulators to resolve potential conflicts of interest in the country, where both companies own a major carrier.