BT has signed a preliminary agreement to sell two of its Italian business units to Italy operator TIM, covering services to public administration and SMEs. The two units together currently generate annual sales of around €90m, and the deal follows other European sell-offs BT has completed in the last couple of years, as it seeks to concentrate on core business segments.
The SME business unit offers connectivity and cloud services throughout Italy. The public administration unit provides communication services to a number of ministries and agencies of the national government, as well as regional and local governments. The agreement includes BT providing customer support for the SME business unit, delivered by BT’s contact centre in Palermo, Sicily.
BT said the planned transaction is part of the “ongoing transformation of its Global unit” as it “sharpens its focus on delivering next-generation networking, cloud and security services to multinational organisations”.
It added that it will retain a “strong presence” in Italy, serving large enterprises and multinational companies, including access points to its global network and data centres.
The transaction, for an undisclosed sum, is subject to consultations with trade unions and regulatory clearance, and is expected to complete by the end of the first quarter of 2021, BT said.
