Italy deepens probe of Swisscom’s takeover of Vodafone Italia

Swisscom still expects the deal to complete early 2025 Keystone-SDA

The planned Swisscom takeover of Vodafone Italia is being scrutinised more closely by the Italian competition authority. An in-depth investigation (Phase II), has been initiated.

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“Phase II investigations are not unusual in the telecommunications sector”, Swisscom explained on Thursday. “Swisscom remains convinced that the transaction is pro-competitive.”

The Swiss industry leader officially notified the €8 billion takeover of Vodafone Italia to the Italian competition authority (Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato) in mid-August.

Overall, the takeover of Vodafone Italia is proceeding according to plan, Swisscom stated. To this end, the Swiss telecoms provider secured the financing for the purchase price in May. It has also received unconditional approval from the Swiss Competition Commission (ComCo) and the Italian Presidency of the Council of Ministers on the basis of the Golden Power Law.

In addition, the listing rules in Britain were changed as of July 29, 2024. This means that the British telecoms group Vodafone Group does not need to have the transaction approved by the Annual General Meeting.

Early 2025 completion target

The completion of the transaction is still subject to further regulatory approvals but Swisscom expects the transaction to be completed in the first quarter of 2025. “We will continue to work closely and constructively with the Italian competition authority in order to obtain approval in good time,” the company wrote.

Swisscom announced its plans to acquire Vodafone Italia at the end of February. The purchase agreement was then signed in mid-March. From the Swiss government’s point of view, all conditions for the acquisition were fulfilled.

Future plans

Vodafone Italia is to be merged with the Swisscom subsidiary Fastweb. Fastweb boss Walter Renna was appointed as the new head of the joint company in Italy.

Vodafone Italy and Fastweb complement each other well: while Fastweb has a broadband network, Vodafone Italy contributes a mobile network. According to earlier information, the merger of Fastweb and Vodafone Italy is expected to generate synergies of €600 million per year from 2029.

According to the information at the time, this will create the second-largest telecoms provider in Italy behind the top dog TIM, with a combined turnover of €7.3 billion and a combined operating profit before depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of €2.4 billion.

Translated from German by DeepL/mga

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