Egypt's Naguib Sawiris still interested in Telecom Italia stake

Egypt's Naguib Sawiris remains interested in acquiring a stake in Telecom Italia SpA but has yet to table a new offer after an initial approach was rebuffed late last year, a spokeswoman for the businessman said on Sunday.

Mr. Sawiris is however considering not submitting any proposal at all "in view of the alleged [Italian Government's] preference for Telefonica reported in the Italian press," the spokeswoman added.

On Friday, an Italian newspaper, citing unnamed sources, said Rome would be more interested in a merger between Telecom Italia and Telefonica rather than a deal involving Mr. Sawiris.

Telecom Italia is controlled by holding company Telco, whose shareholders are Spanish telecom company Telefonica, banks Intesa Sanpaolo and Mediobanca and insurer Assicurazioni Generali.

In December, the Italian telecommunications company said it decided not to proceed further with Mr. Sawiris's initial offer. He had sent a letter to the Telecom Italia board saying he was interested in investing in the company's share capital through the underwriting of a new stock issue. However, he was reported to be willing to offer around 0.70 euro (91 cents) a share.

In crisis-hit Europe, slowing growth and debt troubles have forced many local companies to unload assets. Telecom Italia has been saddled with billions of euros in debt as a result of failed investments dating to the late 1990s, hitting a peak of more than 37 billion euros ($48 billion) by 2006. The company's net debt still stood at 28.27 billion euros at the end of 2012, down from 30.41 billion euros a year earlier.

(Published by WSJ - September 8, 2013)