Finance
Italy-led consortium agree deal to buy Telecom Italia's subsea unit
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on April 14, 2025
1 min readLast updated: January 24, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on April 14, 2025
1 min readLast updated: January 24, 2026
Italy's Treasury-led group acquires Telecom Italia's subsea unit Sparkle for €700M, enhancing Europe's cable network. The deal includes potential price adjustments.
MILAN (Reuters) - A consortium led by the Italian Treasury has reached an agreement to buy Telecom Italia (TIM) submarine cable business Sparkle, in a deal valuing the unit at 700 million euros ($793.80 million) including debt, TIM and the government said on Monday.
Sparkle is deemed of strategic importance by Italian authorities, given its 600,000 kilometres of cable network, which transmits information between countries in Europe, the Mediterranean region and the Americas.
The Treasury jointly bid with Retelit, a fibre optic operator, which is controlled by Spanish fund Asterion.
The sale of Sparkle is part of a round of asset disposals aimed at reviving the former phone monopoly which has struggled with fierce price competition in its home market.
The deal, which is expected to be finalised by the end of this year, includes a potential price adjustment in case Sparkle fails to meet some of its core profit targets this year, TIM and the government said in separate statement.
($1 = 0.8818 euros)
(Reporting by Elvira Pollina; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)
The main topic is the acquisition of Telecom Italia's subsea unit Sparkle by an Italy-led consortium.
The Italian Treasury and Retelit, controlled by Asterion, are involved in the acquisition.
Sparkle is significant due to its extensive cable network, crucial for transmitting information across Europe and beyond.
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