ITALY - Carlyle to lead EUR 30bn bid for Telecom Italia businesses

According to reports in the Corriere della Sera, The Carlyle Group is planning a EUR 30bn bid for Telecom Italia's mobile telephony businesses. It will provide EUR 4bn of cash, while the other partners in the consortium, Permira and Blackstone Capital Partners, will finance up to EUR 10bn. The remaining amount will be financed by debt. Private equity groups Texas Pacific Group, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Providence Equity Partners and Bain Capital are also thought to be interested.