MILAN, May 7 (Reuters) - Any commercial tie‑up between Italian telecoms network operators Open Fiber and FiberCop would entitle Telecom Italia (TIM) to an additional payment of up to 75% of the benefits accruing to FiberCop from the deal, TIM’s chief executive said on Thursday.
The owners of FiberCop and Open Fiber are discussing the terms of a possible commercial deal to complete the country's high-speed broadband rollout, Reuters reported last month.
Telecom Italia sold FiberCop, which manages Italy's main landline network, to a KKR-led KKR.N consortium in 2024 in a 19-billion-euro ($22.36 billion) deal, to cut the phone group's debt pile.
Under the term of the agreement, Telecom Italia would be entitled to an additional payment of up to 2.5 billion euros if a tie-up is completed by the end of 2026.
"If they are trying to do a full merger it is quite difficult to think they are able to close it by December 31", Telecom Italia Chief Executive Pietro Labriola told analysts during a post-earnings call.
"If they sign a commercial agreement, TIM will get up to 75% of the synergies FiberCop generates from that deal", Labriola added.
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(Reporting by Elvira Pollina, editing by Alvise Armellini)
((elvira.pollina@thomsonreuters.com;))