Italy

Telecom Italia (TIM) is looking to fetch a valuation of at least 25 billion euros ($26 billion) including debt for its grid under a plan to separate its fixed-line assets from its services arm, Reuters reported. The price tag is closer to the 31 billion euro figure sought by TIM's top shareholder Vivendi in any potential network deal than initial estimates provided by two sources in line with analysts estimates. In May sources had told Reuters TIM has started looking at a valuation of around 20 billion euros, including debt and before any synergies, in a potential network deal.

Italy expects to attract at least two rival bids for ITA Airways, the successor to Alitalia, before the deadline for its part privatisation expires at midnight on Monday, Reuters reported. Shipping group MSC, which is working with Germany's Lufthansa, is seen as the leading candidate, but a consortium comprising U.S. private equity fund Certares, Air France-KLM and Delta Air Lines Inc is also expected to make a competitive offer.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said on Wednesday he was confident Moscow's demand that European buyers pay for Russian gas in roubles will not lead to a disruption of supplies, Reuters reported. The European Commission has warned that complying with Russia's scheme might breach EU sanctions, but Draghi said it was a "grey zone" with no official ruling on the matter. Speaking during a visit to the United States, Draghi said he was "quite confident" about the supply situation for "a silly reason" that there was a lack of clarity on the rules after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February.

Italy's government aims to sell state-owned ITA Airways, the successor to Alitalia, by the end of June after setting a deadline for binding offers of May 23, Economy Minister Daniele Franco said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Under a government decree, Rome plans to privatise ITA through a direct sale while retaining a minority, non-controlling stake in a first stage. Three prospective bidders for ITA Airways have had access to its finance data room, Franco said addressing parliament over the issue. They are shipping group MSC alongside Germany's Lufthansa, the U.S.

Lufthansa and its partner MSC have been looking at financial data opened up by state-owned ITA Airways to see if the Italian airline would make a good strategic acquisition, the German carrier's chief executive said on Thursday, Reuters reported. Prospective bidders for ITA Airways have had access to its finance data room for about 72 hours, Chief Executive Carsten Spohr told a news conference. The Italian government wants to clinch an ITA privatisation deal by mid-June, sources told Reuters in March.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi called on the European Union on Tuesday to tackle surging energy costs, saying it should adapt schemes deployed to handle the COVID-19 epidemic to the impact of the Ukraine conflict, Reuters reported. In an address to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, Draghi said national budgets alone could not finance the spending necessary to uphold sanctions imposed on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine without risking domestic upheaval.

Italy plans to beef up its scrutiny of corporate takeovers with a new dedicated division at the cabinet office to oversee merger deals involving strategic companies, two sources close to the matter told Reuters. Prime Minister Mario Draghi's 14-month old government has used so-called "golden powers" to set conditions on scores of mergers and has blocked several attempts by China to extend its presence in the euro zone's third-largest economy.

Prime Minister Mario Draghi plans more borrowing to aid Italy’s economy, but also wants to shrink its huge debt pile by bringing down the deficit to the European Union’s limit within three years, Bloomberg News reported. That balancing act will be pursued with a shortfall of 5.6% of output in 2022, incorporating almost 10 billion euros ($10.9 billion) of fresh spending to protect families and businesses from energy price spikes after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to the new economic and financial plan presented by Draghi and Finance Minister Daniele Franco in Rome on Wednesday.

Rome expects to return Monte dei Paschi di Siena into private hands only after the bailed-out lender completes restructuring steps it is currently discussing with European Union authorities, Italy's economy minister said on Monday, Reuters reported. Under new CEO Luigi Lovaglio, Monte dei Paschi (MPS) is revising a 2022-2026 strategic plan readied by previous management which needs approval by European authorities. Economy Minister Daniele Franco told a parliamentary hearing the bank would know once the plan is ready how much money it needs to raise.

Italian billionaire Gianluigi Aponte’s Mediterranean Shipping Co. will take a minority stake in Moby SpA as the ailing ferry company aims to settle a dispute with creditors and restructure its debt, Bloomberg News reported. MSC, one of the world’s largest container shipping companies, will provide fresh funds to Moby to pay off the administrators of Tirrenia, a unit it bought out of insolvency in 2011, according to a joint statement late Thursday. The firms didn’t disclose the size of the capital increase.