Vodafone and Iliad are reportedly in talks to combine their operations in Italy.
According to Reuters, quoting sources familiar with the matter, discussions are ongoing and both sides are actively studying ways to secure a deal.
It adds that Iliad is working with the investment bank Lazard on its strategic plans for Italy and that should an agreement be reached it would create an entity with revenues of nearly €6 billion and a 36% share of the country’s mobile market.
Vodafone’s business in Italy is significantly larger than Iliad’s, though the latter is growing impressively. Latest available results show that Iliad had revenues of €207 million in Q3 2021, or 21% more than in the same period in 2020.
Furthermore, Iliad is expanding its business beyond France and recently established a presence in the Polish market by buying the operator Play. It is now also in the process of acquiring UPC Polska, the country’s second largest cable operator, with the transaction expected to close in the first half of this year.
Meanwhile, Vodafone most recently reported H1 FY 22 revenues of €2.5 billion in Italy, virtually unchanged on the same period in FY21. Its Italian business currently accounts for 12% of the group’s revenues.
Italy’s telecom market is currently undergoing important changes, with Telecom Italia (TIM) a takeover target by the investment fund KKR.
Reuters points out that Xavier Niel, who founded and heads Iliad, also sits on KKR’s board as an independent director.
