KKR Extends Bid for Telecom Italia Grid at Government’s Request

  • Italian officials are reviewing options to accelerate a deal
  • Telecom Italia needs to sell assets to cut €20 billion debt

The Telecom Italia headquarters in Rozzano, Italy. 

Photographer: Miguel Medina/AFP/Getty Images
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KKR & Co. extended its bid for Telecom Italia SpA’s landline network by about a month, a move that could lead to a joint offer for the phone carrier’s multibillion-euro asset.

Telecom Italia said in a statementBloomberg Terminal late Tuesday it received a letter from the US private equity giant extending the deadline for its nonbinding offer to March 24. The extension came in response to a request by the Italian government for more time to study “the powers exercisable by the government in the sector.”