Swisscom Sells €439 Million Telecom Italia Network Stake to KKR

Swisscom AG’s Italian unit agreed to sell its stake in Telecom Italia SpA’s fiber company to private equity firm KKR & Co., which is expanding its holdings in the country’s telecommunications network.

Fastweb SpA signed a deal with KKR subsidiary Optics Bidco for its 4.5% holding in Telecom Italia’s FiberCop SpA for €438.7 million ($477 million) in cash, the Italian company said in a statement Tuesday. The deal, which is expected to close in the third quarter, confirms a Bloomberg News report.

It comes after KKR reached a blockbuster €22 billion agreement last year for most of Telecom Italia’s grid, as the former Italian phone monopoly seeks to slash debt. That sale was cleared by the European Union in May. FiberCop’s price is in line with the pro rata price KKR paid for the Telecom Italia business.

KKR previously agreed to buy a 37.5% stake in FiberCop for about €1.8 billion in 2020. FiberCop operates the portion of the Telecom Italia grid that includes cables running from the street to end-user premises, the so-called secondary network.

Fastweb has been involved in a string of deals in Italy since Chief Executive Officer Walter Renna took over in October.

In March, Swisscom agreed to purchase Vodafone Group Plc’s Italian business for €8 billion, merging it with Fastweb. That move will likely kick off a wave of consolidation in the fragmented and high-competitive local telecommunications industry. Other major players there are Telecom Italia and the French carrier Iliad SA.