Hutchison, Vimpelcom restart merger talks for Italian mobile business; Goldman, Morgan Stanley named advisers
Hutchison Whampoa [HKG:13], a Hong Kong-listed conglomerate, and Vimpelcom [NASDAQ:VIP], a Russian telecom firm, have restarted discussions to combine their mobile units in Italy, according to a newswire report.
Reuters, citing unnamed people with knowledge of the matter, reported that Goldman Sachs is Hutchison's adviser while Morgan Stanley is advising Vimpelcom. Mediobanca will probably be involved in the deal, the report said, without specifying the Italian bank's potential role.
The talks were reignited after Hutchison has been allowed to buy O2 Ireland, and the debt of Wind, the Italian telecom controlled by Vimpelcom, has been partly refinanced, the report said.
A report in La Repubblica in February said that Hutchison's 3 Italia would take a majority stake in the new entity formed by the merger due to Wind's high debt.
Source Newswire Round-up