Swisscom Vodafone Italia purchase cleared by Italian authorities

Swisscom's SCMN planned acquisition of Vodafone Italia VOD has been cleared by Italy's competition watchdog and its industry ministry, the Swiss telecoms group said.

The 8 billion euro ($8.34 billion) deal was approved by both the Italian Competition Authority (Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato) and the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy (MIMIT), the Swiss firm said.

"This paves the way to the creation of a leading converged challenger in Italy, as all competent authorities approved the transaction," Swisscom said in a statement.

Swisscom said it expects the transaction to complete in the first quarter of 2025.

Reuters had previously reported that the Italian antitrust body was preparing to greenlight the purchase.

($1 = 0.9589 euros)