UK banks lead £2bn directories deal

The Italian telecoms firm Telecom Italia yesterday agreed to sell its majority stake in its directories business for just over €3bn (£2.1bn) to a consortium of four venture capital firms.

BC Partners, CVC Capital Partners, Permira and Investitori Associati are paying €3.03bn for Telecom Italia's 61.5 per cent stake in the business, which publishes yellow pages and white pages in Italy.

The venture capital firms are also taking on around €708m of debt, meaning Telecom Italia will, in total, be able to cut its own net debt by about €3.74bn after the deal goes through.

The deal, which values the whole directories business at about €5.65bn, remains subject to a number of conditions including regulatory clearance.

The move comes two years after the UK telecoms company BT sold its directories business Yell for £2.1bn to a venture capital consortium comprising Apax and Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst.

Yell, which is still hoping to float on the stock market, was said to be interested in buying Telecom Italia's directories business.

The sale of Yell was part of an asset disposal programme carried out by BT, alongside a £6bn rescue cash call, designed to slash its then £30bn debt pile.