REUTERS/Yara Nardi/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsMILAN, Sept 20 (Reuters) - U.S. fund KKR and Italy's Treasury are set to ask Telecom Italia (TIM) for more time to arrange a joint bid for its landline grid, three sources close to the matter said.
KKR (KKR.N) last month won the backing of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's government, which authorised the Treasury to join its bid for an asset deemed of strategic national interest.
The U.S. fund's preliminary bid valued the business -- dubbed NetCo -- at around 23 billion euros ($25 billion) including debt and taking into account a number of variables.
The French group, which owns 24% of TIM, has so far shown little appetite for a deal under KKR's terms.
The Treasury is evaluating the request, one of these people said, without adding further details.
Persons:
Yara, Giorgia, Arnaud de Puyfontaine, Giancarlo Giorgetti, Elvira Pollina, Giuseppe Fonte, Alvise Armellini, Alexander Smith
Organizations:
REUTERS, KKR, Italy's Treasury, Telecom Italia, Treasury, TIM, NetCo, Reuters, Vivendi, Thomson
Locations:
Rome, Italy, U.S