According to a filing on the European Commission, the purchase of rural broadband operator Open Fiber by Italy’s state lender (CDP) Cassa Depositi e Prestiti and Australian fund the European Commission website has approved Macquarie on Thursday. The EU antitrust authority said the agreement did not raise substantial concerns about its compliance with the single market, confirming what sources told Reuters on Monday. State-owned Enel and CDP presently share management of Open Fiber, which was established to assist Italy to catch up with the rest of Europe by laying fiber-optic links.
The transaction will expand CDP and its holding in Open Fiber by 10% to 60%, with Macquarie acquiring 40%. According to Reuters, the approval could help with a long-planned merger of Open Fiber’s network with Telecom Italia (TIM).
CDP is TIM’s second-largest stakeholder, trailing only French media conglomerate Vivendi, which some analysts saw as a potential stumbling block in obtaining EU clearance for the Open Fiber merger.
