Observers were yesterday treating sceptically a suggestion that France Telecom might take a stake in Ing C Olivetti & Co SpA, saying that any alliance between the two was not likely to go that far. The International Herald Tribune floated the idea after interviewing France Telecom president Michel Bon. Olivetti had no comment on the report beyond saying it was in talks with a number of companies around the world and that France Telecom was one of them – and France Telecom is already a partner in its Infostrada SpA project to build the second Italian wireline telephone network, where the French state phone company agreed to take a 49% stake (CI No 2,794). It responded to queries about the Tribune piece by saying that it had big ambitions for the Italian market and wanted to become the second-biggest operator there as part of its international expansion strategy. We will follow with interest any developments in Olivetti’s capital, it said. Buying into a company in as much trouble a s Olivetti is seen as far too risky for France Telecom just ahead of privatization, although such an investment might well be entertained once privatization is out of the way. Infostrada, in which Bell Atlantic is also a partner, will spend $131m in 1996 and 1997 to set up a network in time for liberalization in 1998. Separately, the paper reported that Olivetti had had an approach proposing buyout of its problematic personal computer business from a US investment group led by financier Gary Klesch.
