MILAN (Reuters) - Telecom Italia (TIM) (MI:TLIT) said on Wednesday it was set to cash in 1.6 billion euros (1.45 billion pounds) from the sale of direct and indirect stakes in Italy's biggest tower group INWIT (MI:INWT).
TIM said it had agreed to sell to a consortium led by French investment firm Ardian 49% of a company where it plans to transfer a 30.2% INWIT holding.
TIM said it had also agreed to sell an up to 3% direct INWIT stake to a vehicle managed by Canson Capital Partners.
TIM, which prior to these deals directly held 33.2% of INWIT, will continue to jointly control the masts company with Vodafone (L:VOD).
The transaction will help TIM to cut its debt, excluding leases, to 19.4 billion euros from 21.7 billion at the end of March.