Italian state-backed lender ready to buy out Metroweb

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ROME, April 2 (Reuters) - Italian state-backed lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) is ready to buy out Metroweb if talks to sell a stake in the fibre optic network provider end up without success, CDP Chairman Franco Bassanini said on Thursday.

Italian former phone monopoly Telecom Italia (Other OTC: TIAJF - news) and rival Vodafone have been in talks to buy a stake in Metroweb that F2i is selling for several months but discussions have hit problems over the ownership structure of the deal.

"If there are no investors willing to buy F2i's stake in Metroweb, it's not a mystery for anyone that CDP will step in to buy it," Bassanini told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Rome.

Metroweb is seen as a building block for a 12 billion euros ($13 billion) broadband plan the government is pushing for. The company is 87.7 percent controlled by Metroweb Italia, which in turn is 53.8 percent owned by F2i and 46.2 percent by CDP unit FSI. ($1 = 0.9234 euros) (Reporting by Alberto Sisto; Writing by Danilo Masoni; editing by Agnieszka Flak)