Vodafone Group has confirmed that it is in exclusive talks with Swisscom to sell its Italian unit.
The telco announced that the parties have reached an agreement for Swisscom to acquire Vodafone Italy for EUR 8 billion (USD 8.66 billion) in cash and debt-free.
“Vodafone has engaged extensively with several parties to explore market consolidation in Italy and believes this potential transaction delivers the best combination of value creation, upfront cash proceeds and transaction certainty for Vodafone shareholders,” said Vodafone in a press release. "There can be no certainty that any transaction will ultimately be agreed. If required, a further announcement will be made when appropriate."
Margherita Della Valle, Vodafone's new CEO, has been looking to offload the Italian unit as part of a Group-wide simplification strategy. Initially, it appeared that Xavier Niel's Iliad would merge its local unit with Vodafone's, but these talks fell through in January, leaving Vodafone looking for a new suitor.
Swisscom said it would merge Vodafone Italy with its own Italian unit, Fastweb.
Fastweb is primarily a fiber network operator but has had growing ambitions in the mobile space for several years. In 2019, Fastweb won 5G spectrum at an auction, becoming the country's fifth mobile network operator.
