The Tim logo is seen at its headquarters in Rome, Italy November 22, 2021. REUTERS/Yara Nardi
Rome: Telecom Italia's board of directors unanimously approved Wednesday a 700-million-euro ($725 million) bid by the Italian state to buy its fibre-optic submarine cable network, which Rome views as a strategic asset.
TIM's Sparkle unit owns and manages more than 600,000 kilometres (380,000 miles) of cables that allow flows of data across the world, notably in Europe, the Mediterranean and the Americas.
"The signing will take place by April 11, 2025, and the sale is expected to be finalised by the first quarter of 2026" pending various authorisations, TIM said in a statement.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's government made the bid in December for TIM's 100 percent stake in Sparkle along with Retelit SpA, a firm controlled by Spain's Asterion Industrial Partners.
The month before, the TIM board had judged inadequate a non-binding offer from US investment fund KKR of 600 million euros, according to a financial source.
