BT to take full Ownership of Italy's Albacom

BT reached agreement with its three joint venture partners in Albacom to increase its ownership in the company to 100%. Albacom is the second largest telecoms operator in the Italian business market, behind Telecom Italia, with an 11% share of the data services market. Albacom provides data transmission, voice and Internet services to more than 240,000 Italian businesses and to international companies active in Italy. In consideration for the 74% of Albacom not already owned, BT will pay to the other shareholders a minimum of EUR 116 million. The other partners in Albacom are ENI, BNL and Mediaset. http://www.btplc.com