⁍ Italy’s Enel has received a binding bid from investment fund Macquarie for its 50% stake in Open Fiber.

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⁍ The bid values the broadband network operator at more than 7 billion euros.

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⁍ Sources told Reuters Macquarie had bid for all or part of Enel’s stake in Open Fiber.

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– Australia’s Macquarie Infrastructure & Real Assets has made a binding offer to buy Enel’s 50% stake in Italy’s Open Fiber for $8.3 billion, Enel says in a statement. The offer includes ” adjustment and earn-out mechanisms,” Enel says, per Reuters. The move follows a non-binding offer made in June by Macquarie Infrastructure & Real Assets for the wholesale-only fiber operator, which is half-owned by state lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti. The Italian government is trying to broker a deal between former phone monopolist Telecom Italia and Open Fiber to create a full-fibre network to close a digital divide with Europe. Last month, it set out a road map to try to overcome a deadlock between TIM and Open Fiber and create a high-speed network open to all operators and acceptable to regulators. Including debt of around 2 billion euros, the Macquarie bid values the whole of Open Fiber at more than 7 billion euros.