Telecom Italia completed the sale of fixed infrastructure unit NetCo to a consortium led by investment company KKR, a move positioned by the operator’s CEO Pietro Labriola as aiding the sustainable and fastest possible development of his company.

The €22 billion deal has been in the works for two and a half years and has not been without its detractors among Telecom Italia’s investors. However, the operator estimates it will enable the company to cut €13.8 billion in debt.

Alongside the sale of the asset Telecom Italia signed a master service agreement outlining the commercial relationship between the operator and the sold spin-off.   

In a statement the operator explained the deal would provide it with the opportunity to adopt a new business model to “compete more effectively in the consumer and enterprise markets in Italy, thanks to a stronger focus on the industrial and commercial aspects of its business and thanks to a solid financial structure”.

Labriola added the business had “reached a milestone that is also a new starting point” noting “we chose to separate the fixed network infrastructure services from the other services we provide, to ensure the best, sustainable and fastest possible development of TIM”.