Swisscom says the Italian Presidency of the Council of Ministers has unconditionally approved the acquisition “pursuant to the Golden Power legislation”
Swisscom has received approval from the Italian Presidency of the Council of Ministers to acquire Vodafone Italy. Swisscom and Vodafone announced they had reached a binding agreement in March for Swisscom’s Italian fixed infrastructure subsidiary, Fastweb, to acquire Vodafone Italy for €8 billion.
The approval from the Council does not override the so-called Golden Power legislation, which gives the Italian government the right to review investments or corporate resolutions that could threaten or prejudice Italian public interests.
Assuming the Golden Power is not invoked, the sale of Vodafone Italy is “on track” according to Swisscom, although it is subject to further regulatory and other approvals – including the Italian Competition Authority. If it remains on track, it is expected that the deal will close in Q1 2025.
Reshaping European footprint
The sale of Vodafone Italy and Vodafone Spain (to Zegona Capital, which has been fully approved and is expected to close by the end of this month) is part of what Vodafone Group’s CEO describes as “reshaping Vodafone’s European footprint” – a key part of the strategy Margherita Della Valle set out early in 2023.
In March this year, she added, “The new footprint with the sale of Vodafone Spain and Vodafone Italy, will also result in a step-up of Vodafone Group ROCE [return on capital employed] of more than 1 percentage point.” As James Beard, writing for the Motley Fool pointed out in a blog earlier this month, that amount would add €1.1 billion in operating profit.