ROME (Reuters) -French telecoms operator Iliad is looking at a potential consolidation deal with Italy’s former phone monopolist Telecom Italia (TIM), Italian newspapers Corriere della Sera and La Stampa reported on Friday.
La Stampa said Iliad has given a mandate to Boston Consulting Group to study a possible deal, while Corriere said Iliad, assisted by Lazard, had recent talks with the Italian economy ministry, which holds just under 10% of the phone operator.
A spokeswoman for Iliad said Iliad had no comment to make, regarding those newspaper reports.
Corriere added CVC was looking at TIM’s services for businesses unit, with the idea of merging it with ICT group Maticmind, which the private equity group controls and in which Italian state lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti has a stake.
(Writing by Alvise Armellini, additional reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta in Paris, editing Giulia Segreti)
