Swisscom's $8.81 Billion Vodafone Italia Deal Gets EU Commission Approval

By Najat Kantouar

Swisscom said the EU Commission cleared its $8.81 billion acquisition of Vodafone Italia, taking the deal a step closer to securing the regulatory approvals needed to complete.

The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, said Tuesday that it is clearing the transaction unconditionally after the waiting period ended, Swisscom said.

The deal still needs approval from the Italian competition authority, which opened an in-depth probe earlier this month to assess whether it complies with the country's antitrust rules.

To date, the proposed acquisition has received unconditional approval from the Italian government and the Swiss competition regulator, Swisscom said.

The company expects the transaction to complete in the first quarter of 2025.

The all-cash deal, which was first outline in March, aims to bring together Vodafone Italia's mobile customer base with the fixed operations of Swisscom's Fastweb Italian subsidiary.

Write to Najat Kantouar at najat.kantouar@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 24, 2024 04:33 ET (08:33 GMT)

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