Telco consortium shareholders dismissed recent reports that Telefonica is preparing a bid for Telecom Italia. Italian newspaper La Repubblica earlier reported that Mediobanca is analysing a possible merger between Telco and Criteria CaixaCorp, a holding of Spanish financial institution La Caixa. The move was expected to generate a "paper merger" between Telecom Italia and Telefonica. La Caixa currently owns 3.75 percent of Telefonica through Criteria. The Telco consortium owns 23.6 percent of Telecom Italia. In response to the report, the Italian shareholders in Telco, Telefonica, Assicurazioni Generali Group, Intesa Sanpaolo and Mediobanca, issued a statement denying any merger plan between Telefonica and Telecom Italia. Telco, which currently controls 23.6 percent of Telecom Italia, dismissed the report as "entirely without foundation". In a statement to the Spanish stock market regulator CNMV, Telefonica also said that the information published in the Italian newspaper regarding a "certain agreement" that would affect the ownership of Telecom Italia "is unfounded".

source:telecompaper