A deal to create a single fibre network in Italy looked set to take longer than planned, with Telecom Italia revealing Open Fiber, CDP Equity and Macquarie Asset Management asked for more time to review arrangements.

Telecom Italia stated the parties sought to extend an original goal of signing binding agreements by the end of this month, citing the scale and complexity of the deal.

CDP Equity, Macquarie Asset Management and Open Fiber told Telecom Italia the “magnitude of the transaction and the time required to analyse” information the operator had provided “requires an extension of the indicative timeline originally discussed”.

Telecom explained further negotiations involving all parties are scheduled to take place this week and private equity company KKR is on board with the latest development.

The operator originally opened talks with CDP Equity as part of a bid to fend off a takeover offer by KKR.