\tIndicative bids for BT Group’s Italian unit, which it is looking to sell after it was hit by an accounting scandal two years ago, fell short of the operator’s expectations, Reuters reported.<\/p>\n
Four bidders comprising operators Telecom Italia and Wind Tre along with telecom services provider Retelit, and voice and data provider VueTel, are conducting due diligence as part of a second round in an auction process. Following this, the companies are expected to decide whether to bid for specific assets rather than the entire business.<\/p>\n
A source told Reuters there is disagreement over the asking price, and none of the companies examining a bid would “go crazy” to secure the whole company.<\/p>\n
Binding bids are due at the end of March. All parties declined to comment except VueTel, which confirmed its interest.<\/p>\n
Credit Suisse, which is handling the sale, has been reportedly trying to get telecoms companies operating in Italy to the negotiating table since September 2018.<\/p>\n
BT\u00a0revealed in January 2017 an investigation had uncovered [1] \u201cimproper accounting practices and a complex set of improper sales, purchase, factoring and leasing transactions\u201d at its Italian operation.<\/p>\n
This forced the operator to take a \u00a3530 million write-down.<\/p>\n
BT Italia employs around 800 people and serves about 80,000 corporate clients in the country.<\/p>\n[1] https:\/\/www.mobileworldlive.com\/featured-content\/top-three\/italy-scandal-may-cost-bt-ceo-share-payments-report\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Indicative bids for BT Group’s Italian unit, which it is looking to sell after it …<\/p>\n
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