Investor KKR reportedly remained keen on buying into Telecom Italia, following a recently announced plan by the Italian group to split into two separate units.

Citing Italian newspaper Il Messaggero, Reuters reported KKR could confirm its interest in a deal, but at a lower price of around €0.40 per share compared with the €0.505 bid in November 2021.

Telecom Italia is yet to respond to KKR’s original offer, but is expected to do so in the coming days.

Reuters reported Telecom Italia’s advisers have asked KKR to clarify whether the terms of its previous offer stand.

KKR’s ears have apparently been pricked up by new CEO Pietro Labriola’s (pictured) plan to separate Telecom Italia, hiving off the group’s Italian fixed network into a separate NetCo unit which would include its domestic wholesale and Sparkle’s international businesses.

A unit called ServCo would then hold all the remaining assets, including Telecom Italia’s mobile business, enterprise services including cloud unit Noovle, and TIM Brasil.

Reuters stated Labriola has conceded KKR’s plan for Telecom Italia was similar, but he was convinced doing it internally could generate more value for investors.

Telecom Italia also looks set to sell its stake in Italian tower company Inwit, which it controls jointly with Vodafone Group, following a €1.3 billion approach by French investment fund Ardian.