ROME (Reuters) - Canada Pension Plan Investments (CPP) will acquire a 17.5% stake in the fixed-line network of Telecom Italia (BIT:TLIT) (TIM) for up to 2 billion euros ($2.19 billion), the group said on Friday.
The investment values the business at an enterprise value of about 18.8 billion euros ($20.55 billion) and will be made through the Optics Bid Co group, which also includes U.S. fund KKR, the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADIA, Italy's infrastructure fund F2i and Italy's Economy Ministry.
The sale of the TIM network was approved by the former phone monopoly's board in December and cleared by Italy's government in January and establishes a wholesale-only player which will provide broadband capacity to TIM and other telecoms operators.
"Our investment will help deliver high-quality digital infrastructure across Italy as well as generating long-term risk-adjusted returns for the fund," James Bryce, Managing Director, Global Head of Infrastructure, of CPP Investments, said in the statement.
He added that the deal "can represent the first of several infrastructure investments in Italy for CPP Investments".
The investors will support the completion of an extensive upgrade to the existing network, to deliver high quality and high capacity fiber-based services in urban and rural areas, the statement said.
($1 = 0.9150 euros)