Swisscom completes takeover of Vodafone Italia

Swisscom had previously expected the €8 billion (CHF7.5 billion) deal to be completed in the first quarter of 2025. Keystone-SDA

Swisscom has completed the takeover of Vodafone Italia for €8 billion (CHF7.5 billion) slightly earlier than expected.

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“The transaction was completed on December 31, 2024,” Swisscom announced in a press release on Thursday.

Swisscom had previously expected the €8 billion deal to be completed in the first quarter of 2025. The slightly earlier completion was made possible because Swisscom had already received all the necessary approvals from the Italian authorities by December 20.

As the transaction was completed in 2024, costs of up to €200 million will now be taken into account in Swisscom’s 2024 financial statements. Swisscom is therefore lowering its targets for operating profit before depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for 2024: the telecoms group is now forecasting EBITDA of CHF4.3-4.4 billion, having previously targeted CHF4.5-4.6 billion.

There will be no impact on free cash flow in 2024, Swisscom added. The outlook for revenue, investments and dividends for 2024 remains unchanged. The telecoms group is therefore still aiming for revenue of around CHF11.0 billion.

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Investments are expected to amount to around CHF2.3 billion. If these targets are achieved, Swisscom will again pay a dividend of CHF22 per share.

Rise to number two in Italy

Following the purchase of Vodafone Italia announced in February, the Swiss group will become the second-largest telecoms provider in Italy behind TIM.

Vodafone Italia is to be merged with the Italian Swisscom subsidiary Fastweb. According to earlier statements, this will create a company with a combined turnover of €7.3 billion and a combined EBITDA of €2.4 billion.

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Vodafone Italy and Fastweb are expected to complement each other: while Fastweb has a broadband network, Vodafone Italia offers a mobile network. The merger of the two companies is expected to generate annual synergies of around €600 million from 2029.

The joint company will be called Fastweb + Vodafone. Fastweb CEO Walter Renna was appointed in July.

The integration process of Fastweb and Vodafone Italia will begin immediately, Swisscom added. The two companies will be managed by the newly appointed executive committee, which consists of executives from Fastweb and Vodafone Italia. The existing commercial brands Fastweb, Vodafone and Ho will be retained.

Adapted from French by DeepL/sb

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