Mobile phone giant Vodafone is in negotiations to sell its Italian business, a deal it values at €8 billion.
ADVERTISEMENTLondon-listed firm Vodafone has confirmed it is in exclusive talks with telecoms company Swisscom regarding a potential sale of Vodafone Italy.
In a statement, the firm announced that "Swisscom will acquire Vodafone Italy for an enterprise value of €8 billion", subject to "customary closing adjustments".
The deal, which Vodafone has said is not yet certain, comes after the firm rejected numerous bids from French telecoms company Iliad.
Iliad had made a recent offer for the Italian branch that would have brought cash proceeds of €6.6 billion to Vodafone, and the subsidiary would have been split 50:50.
Speaking of the current negotiations, Vodafone said that a sale to Swisscom would offer "the best combination of value creation, upfront cash proceeds and transaction certainty for Vodafone shareholders".
In a separate statement, Swisscom confirmed its intentions to merge the subsidiary with Fastweb, its own Italian arm.
Vodafone's proposed deal fits into the firm's wider strategy to simplify operations and offload smaller divisions.
Last year, the telecoms group sold its Spanish arm to Zegona in a deal worth more than €5 billion.
Chief Executive Margherita Della Valle has vowed to focus on markets with "sustainable structures and sufficient local scale" to drive growth.
