Vodafone, TIM to win conditional EU approval for tower deal: sources

BRUSSELS/MILAN: Vodafone and Telecom Italia (TIM) are set to secure conditional EU antitrust approval to create Europe’s biggest mobile towers company, part of a strategy to roll out lucrative 5G services, sources said on Thursday.

The companies announced a plan last July to create Italy’s largest mobile towers group through the transfer of Vodafone’s Italian mobile masts to INWIT, TIM’s 60%-owned subsidiary.

When the 10-billion-euro ($11.2 billion) merger is complete, TIM and Vodafone will each have a 37.5% stake and equal governance rights in the enlarged INWIT.