AT&T ,A.Movil's Olimpia Due Diligence Ends Next Week - Source"

MILAN (MF-Dow Jones)--AT&T and America Movil's due diligence of Italian unlisted holding company Olimpia, is expected to be completed by next week, a person familiar with the situation said Thursday.

Olimpia is the unlisted holding through which Pirelli and Sintonia control Telecom Italia.

Sunday Pirelli announced it had entered into exclusive talks with AT&T and America Movil to sell each company a 33.3% stake in Olimpia. AT&T and America Movil, which is 8% owned by AT&T, both valued Telecom Italia at EUR2.82 a share, less Olimpia's EUR2.8 billion net debt.

That price, however, is subject to due diligence by the two companies as well as the conditions of the contract. The price is much higher than Telecom Italia's current market price.

The possibility of a deal with foreign companies immediately stirred strong opposition within the Italian government, which would like to see Telecom Italia - the country's former monopoly operator and still its largest telecoms company by market capitalization - remain under Italian control.

The move by AT&T and America Movil has also fueled speculation that other European telecoms companies, including France Telecom and Spain's Telefonica may consider bidding for the same stake.

That speculation has lifted Telecom Italia stock over 10% since Monday. At 1214 GMT, Telecom Italia shares in Milan were trading down EUR0.01, or 0.31%, at EUR2.41, in an overall market that was higher.

-By Gabriele La Monica, MF-Dow Jones; +39 02 5821 9901; sabrina.cohen@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires"

Posted to the site on 5th April 2007