Investor urges Telefonica takeover of Telecom Italia

The head of a company that owns 4.5 percent of Telecom Italia wants Spain's Telefonica to acquire the company, according to report in Italian newspaper La Repubblica. The story does not provide a source for this information, and suggests such a deal also is unlikely to happen. However, it is worth noting that Telefonica within the last year became Telecom Italia's largest shareholder, with 10 percent ownership of the carrier through an investment Telefonica and three banks made in Telecom Italia's holding company.

Telecom Italia officials have said before that they are not interested in pursuing such a deal. Meanwhile, Telecom Italia's stock value has been down about 42 percent this year as the company has looked to restructure and recover from difficult times.

For more:
- see this Thomson Financial story [1] at Forbes

Related articles:
Telecom Italia's chairman said in April that the telco didn't want to merge. Telecom Italia report [2]
Telecom Italia's CEO said not to expect fireworks during the telco's recovery. Telecom Italia report [3]