Telecom Italia said its Brazilian mobile unit, TIM Participaoes, has agreed to buy telecom infrastructure operator AES Atimus Group for €700 million.
The Italian company, Italy's biggest telecom operator and number five in Europe, said the acquisition would help it boost its presence in Brazil's fast-growing market.
Specifically, it will allow TIM Brazil to augment its mobile network with fiber-optic connections.
AES Atimus, a unit of US power company AES Corp, owns a 5,500 km fiber optic network that covers 21 towns in the densely populated areas of San Paolo and Rio de Janeiro.
Telecom Italia forecasts that the deal will deliver synergies of 1 billion reais (€452 million) to of opex and capex over three years.
The merger is not expected to impact a deleveraging plan Telecom Italia announced last February.
The deal is expected to close by Q4 2011.