Swisscom said on Friday it will buy Vodafone Italia for €8 billion and merge the business with its Italian subsidiary Fastweb.
The deal will create Italy's second-biggest fixed-line broadband operator behind TIM, with a strong presence in the prized business segment, and a leading player in mobile.
Swisscom beat other bidders including Eir owner Iliad.
The transaction consideration will be 100% cash and will be fully debt-financed, Swisscom said.
Your work questions answered: My hours have been cut but someone new has been hired. Can my employer do this?
Cliff Taylor: How the return of SSIA-style incentives might be on the cards for Irish households
From intern to CEO: does it pay to be a company lifer?
My remuneration ‘was substantial’: The interview transcript Derek Quinlan didn’t want made public
"Vodafone Italia and Fastweb will bring together complementary high-quality mobile and fixed infrastructures, competencies, and capabilities to create a leading converged challenger in a market with material growth opportunities," Swisscom said in a statement.
The deal is expected to be closed in the first quarter of 2025, and will not require a shareholder vote, the company said.
Swisscom, which has the Swiss government as its controlling shareholder, has been operating in Italy since 2007 via Fastweb, with the business increasing by 50% in terms of customers and revenue over the last 10 years.
"With the merger we're creating a leading provider in a market with great growth opportunities and in doing so taking a big step towards our goal of profitable growth in Italy," Swisscom CEO Christoph Aeschlimann said in a video statement.
The transaction caps a busy first year for Vodafone CEO Margherita Della Valle, who pledged to tackle three problematic markets in which it makes no return on its capital.
Della Valle previously agreed to sell its Spanish operation and merge its British unit with Hutchison's Three last year.
Swisscom said last month the deal would boost its cash flow and would have "a positive impact on its dividend policy".
The Swiss firm's Fastweb currently provides mobile services on Hutchison's Wind Tre's network, and the two companies have an agreement to roll out 5G networks.
Della Valle, who started her Vodafone career in Italy, is seeking to improve Vodafone's profitability by striking major deals, something which eluded her predecessor.
Investors have been unsure about the deals, and Vodafone’s shares trade at around half the level they did two years ago. ($1 = 0.9194 euros) (Reporting by John Revill, editing by Linda Pasquini and Kim Coghill)
