Enel kicks off sale of Open Fiber stake to Macquarie

MILAN/ROME: Italy’s biggest utility Enel kicked off the sale of up to 50% of fast broadband company Open Fiber to Australian infrastructure fund Macquarie on Thursday, in a move that could open the way to the creation of a full-fiber national network.

Enel, which jointly controls Open Fiber with state lender CDP, said it had given a mandate to its CEO to sell between 40% and 50% of the company to the Australian fund by June.

It said Macquarie would pay 2.65 billion euros ($3.3 billion) for a stake of 50% but added it included the transfer to the fund of a shareholder loan worth 270 million euros.