Swisscom Vodafone Italia purchase cleared by Italian authorities

ZURICH (Reuters) - Swisscom's planned acquisition of Vodafone Italia has been cleared by Italy's competition watchdog and its industry ministry, the Swiss telecoms group said.

The 8 billion euro ($8.34 billion) deal was approved by both the Italian Competition Authority (Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato) and the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy (MIMIT), the Swiss firm said.

"This paves the way to the creation of a leading converged challenger in Italy, as all competent authorities approved the transaction," Swisscom said in a statement.

Swisscom said it expects the transaction to complete in the first quarter of 2025.

Reuters had previously reported that the Italian antitrust body was preparing to greenlight the purchase.

($1 = 0.9589 euros)

(Writing by Dave Graham)