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France Telecom winds up Wind link
Sells stake and breaks ties with Enel...

By Will Sturgeon

Published: Wednesday 20 March 2002

France Telecom plans to sell its 26.6 per cent stake in Wind - Italy's third largest mobile and fixed-line operator.

Any deal will set back France Telecom's ambitions to become a pan-European operator, but it is believed to be taking the step because it was unhappy with the level of influence it had over Wind's operations - failing to wrestle power from Enel, the Italian state-owned utility which owns the rest of Wind.

According to the Financial Times France Telecom stands to make between E4bn and E5.3bn (£2.5bn and £3.3bn) from the sale, which will at least help it stay in control of its vast debt mountain.