Telecom Italia buy of Metroweb would face conditions - AGCM

ROME (Reuters) - Telecom Italia's planned acquisition of fibre-optic network operator Metroweb would be possible under very stringent conditions, Italy's competition watchdog AGCM said on Tuesday.

The former phone monopoly, which owns Italy's largest telecoms infrastructure, said last week it had sent a proposal to buy a controlling stake in Metroweb, as it seeks to boost investment in faster networks.

"Such a move would merit a particularly serious evaluation," AGCM Chairman Giovanni Pitruzzella said at a conference in Rome.

He did not elaborate on what kind of measures could eventually be imposed, although neither AGCM nor the Italian communications regulator AGCOM were currently looking into it.

A spokesman for the F2i infrastructure fund that owns a controlling stake in Metroweb said last week some investors had expressed interest in the firm but it had not started any formal sale procedure.

Earlier in November, Vodafone Chief Executive Vittorio Colao signalled its interest in Metroweb, which some analysts have valued at around 400 million euros (317.46 million pounds).

(Reporting by Alberto Sisto, writing by Danilo Masoni; editing by Keiron Henderson)