Fund Macquarie makes offer to Enel for 50% stake in Open Fiber - paper

FILE PHOTO: A pedestrian walks past the logo of Australia's biggest investment bank Macquarie Group Ltd which adorns a wall on the outside of their Sydney office headquarters in central Sydney, Australia, July 18, 2017. Picture taken July 18, 2017. REUTERS/David Gray

Australian infrastructure fund Macquarie <MQG.AX> has made an offer to Italian utility Enel <ENEI.MI> for its 50% stake in broadband network operator Open Fiber, daily la Repubblica reported on Tuesday.

Open Fiber is a wholesale-only broadband operator jointly owned by Italian utility Enel <ENEI.MI> and state lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP).

The report did not say how much Macquarie offered but added that "it would be hard for Enel Chief Executive Francesco Starace not to submit (the offer) to the board for a possible evaluation".

FILE PHOTO: A logo of Italian multinational energy company Enel is seen at the Milan's headquarter, Italy, February 5, 2020. REUTERS/Flavio Lo Scalzo

It said that Open Fiber is estimated to be worth between 3 and 6 billion euros.

Enel declined to comment, la Repubblica said.

(Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari, editing by Giulia Segreti)