Telecom Italia appears to have confirmed speculation earlier this week that Orascom Telecom founder Naguib Sawiris (pictured) is seeking to buy a stake in the operator.

A Bloomberg report quotes Telecom Italia’s chief operating officer Marco Patuano as stating that the firm’s board will meet next month to consider whether to accept the offer. Also up for consideration is a potential acquisition of Vivendi’s Brazilian fixed-line phone unit GVT.

“It’s mandatory for the board to consider [the GVT bid], and if the board considers it’s interesting, then we have to evaluate how, and then Mr. Sawiris’ offer is an alternative,” Patuano said yesterday, referring to a board meeting on December 6.

The Bloomberg report claims Telecom Italia’s board last week received a letter from Sawiris expressing interest in acquiring new shares in the operator, but didn’t discuss “any kind of detail,” according to Patuano.

Patuano declined to comment on the size of Sawiris’s potential investment, saying that would be “implying a level of discussions that’s not the case.”

The Bloomberg report claims Sawiris may invest more than EUR2 billion euros in Telecom Italia, citing a person familiar with the matter.