The part privatization of Telecom Italia has failed to draw the kinds of figures expected by the Italian government last week. The sale, the largest single privatization ever carried out in Europe, was more than four times over-subscribed by Italian citizens. This was well under government hopes that the issue would be over-subscribed by around 15 times. Part of the fall in demand was from institutions. The Treasury said the institutional tranche of the offering had been only 1.4 times subscribed – relatively subdued demand. The sale of the Treasury’s 44.7% stake in Telecom Italia should yield around $14.9bn from the combined offer to retail, institutional and strategic shareholders.