Italy finalising decree to trigger TV towers tie-up, economy minister says

ROME (Reuters) - Italy is finalising a decree to facilitate a long-awaited tie-up between state-backed Rai Way and its rival EI Towers, the economy minister said, a deal that would create a TV towers group worth more than 2 billion euros ($2.17 billion).

State TV broadcaster RAI holds 65% of Rai Way, while EI Towers is 60% owned by fund F2i and 40% by MediaForEurope (MFE), which is controlled by the family of late media tycoon and political leader Silvio Berlusconi.

"The government aims to create an entity with a relevant public presence to manage the tower infrastructure," Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti told reporters on Tuesday.

Government officials last month said the decree could allow state-owned broadcaster RAI to cut its stake in Rai Way below 30%, but Giorgetti dismissed such option.

"There is no decline below 30%," he said.

RAI said in January it planned to sell a 15% stake in Rai Way to help fund its new industrial plan.

Last week, the chief executive of Italy's state bank Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) said he would be ready to consider, under the right circumstances, a possible acquisition of a stake in Rai Way.

($1 = 0.9202 euros)

(Reporting by Matteo Negri and Giuseppe Fonte; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)