Telecom Italia shareholders deny stake sale

Telecom Italia's main shareholder group denied a report yesterday that its Italian investors planned to sell their stakes to Telefonica.

Italian daily MF, reported yesterday that Telco shareholders Assicurazioni Generali, Mediobanca and Intesa Sanpaolo met before Christmas and agreed to sell their stakes to Telefonica. Telco, which controls 23.6 per cent of Telecom Italia, said the report was baseless. Telecom Italia shares were up 0.8 per cent at 1229 GMT, having been up as much as 2.3 per cent before the denial.

An exit of Italian investors from Telecom Italia has been considered unlikely since Italy's government has long signalled it will not allow a national asset fall into foreign hands.

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