Swisscom anticipates finalizing the acquisition by the first quarter of 2025
The Italian Competition Authority approved Swiss carrier Swisscom’s acquisition of Vodafone Italia, contingent on specific behavioral commitments, the latter said in a release.
Swisscom aims to merge Vodafone Italia with Italian telco Fastweb, Swisscom’s subsidiary in Italy.
The telco noted that these commitments include maintaining wholesale service offerings to interested operators under Fastweb’s current practices and ensuring transparency in any public tender for fixed telephony or fixed connectivity services involving Fastweb or Vodafone Italia as existing suppliers. Compliance with these commitments, which will remain in place for three years, will be overseen by an independent monitoring trustee, said Swisscom.
The Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy (MIMIT) also authorized the transaction, granting approval for the change in control of Vodafone Italia, which holds spectrum licenses. This clearance, provided unconditionally, followed positive evaluations from both the Italian Authority for Communications and the Italian Competition Authority.
In the release, Swisscom highlighted that the merged entity will combine Fastweb’s and Vodafone Italia’s fixed and mobile networks, expertise and resources to offer significant advantages to Italian consumers and businesses.
Swisscom anticipates finalizing the acquisition by the first quarter of 2025.
In November, Italy’s communications authority AGCOM had cleared the acquisition of Vodafone Italia by Swisscom with regard to the effects of the transaction on the Italian market.
Swisscom already received unconditional approval from the Presidency of the Council of Ministers in Italy, the Swiss Competition Commission and the European Commission.
In March, Swisscom confirmed it had entered into binding agreements with U.K carrier Vodafone Group for the acquisition of 100% of Vodafone Italia for EUR 8 billion (currently $8.32 billion) on a debt and cash free basis.
The combination of Fastweb’s end-to-end managed wireline network and Vodafone’s 5G-based Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) will enable the creation of a converged carrier in the domestic market, Swisscom said, adding that the increased scale, more efficient cost structure and significant annual run-rate synergies of nearly EUR 600 million will enable the combined entity to unlock significant value for all stakeholders and offer innovative converged services.
Swisscom said that the transaction is a key step for the company to achieve its strategic objective of profitable growth in Italy. Through this transaction Swisscom reinforces its presence in the Italian market, where it has been operating since 2007 through Fastweb.
As part of the deal, the combined entity and Vodafone Group will enter into several transitional and long-term service agreements, including a brand license agreement, which permits the use of the Vodafone brand in Italy for up to five years post-closing.
The deal also stipulates that Swisscom and Vodafone Group are exploring a closer commercial relationship to enable collaboration across a broad range of areas, beyond Italy. The key areas of commercial collaboration that Vodafone and Swisscom are exploring include IoT, enterprise services and solutions, procurement, operational shared services and roaming.
