Swiss telco Swisscom has received clearance for the acquisition of Vodafone Italia from both the Italian Competition Authority and the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy.
This paves the way to the creation of a converged challenger in Italy, as all competent authorities approved the transaction.
On 20 December 2024, the Italian Competition Authority cleared the transaction and accepted behavioural commitments proposed by Swisscom. These include the continued provision of wholesale services to interested operators in line with the current practice of Swisscom’s Italian subsidiary Fastweb and the sharing of information in any public tender for fixed telephony and fixed connectivity services issued by the public administration, where Fastweb or Vodafone Italia is the current supplier. An independent monitoring trustee will ensure that the commitments are honoured. The commitments apply for 3 years.
The Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy (MIMIT) also approved the transaction by clearing the change of control over Vodafone Italia as holding entity of spectrum licenses. The unconditional clearance by MIMIT occurred on 19 December 2024 after acknowledging the favourable opinions given by the Italian Authority for Communications and the Italian Competition Authority.
The combined entity resulting from the transaction will leverage Fastweb’s and Vodafone Italia’s fixed and mobile infrastructures, competencies and capabilities to deliver substantial benefits to Italian consumers and businesses, according to Swisscom.
Swisscom expects the transaction to complete by Q1 2025.
