3 Italia May Sell Stake to Arab Investors

Hutchison Whampoa's Italian arm, 3 Italia has attracted interest from Middle-Eastern investors, the company's CEO Vincenzo Novari told Italian paper Corriere della Sera in an interview. The talks could lead to the Arab investors taking a stake in the company, he added.

Novari also confirmed that the company expects to turn EBIT positive next year and start generating positive cash flow. To help lower costs, the company is looking at increasing its tower sharing arrangements with other Italian operators, and has just agreed to outsource its network management to Ericsson.

Hutchison had tried to float 25% of the company on the local stock market in early 2006, but it cancelled the plans following lack of interest. There have also been vague rumours since then that the company has looked for a trade buyer to take over the company.

The company recently declined to take part in an auction to allocate additional 3G radio spectrum.

According to figures from the Mobile World analysts, 3 Italia ended Q1 '09 with just under 8.9 million customers, which represents a market share of around 6.5%.

On the web: 3 Italia - Mobile World - Corriere della Sera

Posted to the site on 1st July 2009