Fastweb Names Bank Advisors To Study Wind Merger

MILAN -(Dow Jones)- Fastweb SpA (FWB.MI) said Monday it had given a mandate to three investment banks to study a possible merger between the Italian broadband company and Italian power company Enel SpA's (EN) telecommunications unit Wind SpA (WIF.YY).

Fastweb said it had appointed Deutsche Bank AG (DB), UniCredito Italiano SpA (UC.MI) and Interbanca, the investment banking arm of Banca Antonveneta SpA (NTV.MI), to advise it on a possible deal.

Fastweb has around EUR800 million of debt, meaning any deal with Wind would be mainly a share swap, according to industry observers.

Fastweb, which is cabling Italian cities to offer high-speed Internet and other broadband services, has a market capitalization of EUR2.3 billion.

Wind, which operates traditional fixed-line and wireless telecommunications networks, is commonly valued at above EUR12 billion including debt.

A consortium headed by Cesare Romiti, a former Fiat chairman who now heads the Gemina SpA (GEM.MI) holding company, is planning to make its own offer for Wind this week, according to a person familiar with the situation.

-By Christopher Emsden, Dow Jones Newswires; +39-02-58-21-99-05; chris.emsden@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires "

Posted to the site on 13th December 2004