(Reuters) -CVC Capital Partners is considering purchasing Vivendi’s stake in Telecom Italia, a move that could pave the way for a potential takeover of the Italian telecommunications company, Bloomberg News reported on Monday.
Private-equity group CVC has been holding preliminary talks with Vivendi about the stake purchase, the report said, citing people with knowledge of the matter.
Vivendi is the largest shareholder of Telecom Italia, according to LSEG data. The French company owns about 23.75% of Telecom Italia, valued at about $1 billion.
Shares of Telecom Italia rose more than 6% to 0.2759 euros ($0.2898) after the Bloomberg report.
The buyout company might eventually seek a full takeover of Telecom Italia and try to break up the business, according to the Bloomberg report.
Vivendi, CVC and Telecom Italia declined to comment on the report.
($1 = 0.9521 euros)
(Reporting by Rajveer Singh Pardesi and Rishabh Jaiswal in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai)
