Spain's Telefonica is opposing the merger between Telecom Italia and 3 Italia, writes local daily Il Messaggero. As a result, the special committee set up by Telecom Italia to consider the proposed merger will not offer any concrete recommendation at the board of directors meeting set for 8 May. The decision was reached in order not to aggravate the rift with Telefonica director Julio Linares, who is a member of the special committee and who believes that the transaction with 3's owner Hutchison Whampoa would jeopardize the control of the mobile network. There is also a strong divergence on the value of potential synergies produced by the merger – over EUR 1 billion according to projection made by Goldman Sachs, less than EUR 500 million according to other consultants. Telefonica is the largest shareholder in the Telco consortium, which owns a 22.4 percent stake in Telecom Italia.
