Hutchison Whampoa saw its stock jump on speculation the company was considering a sale of its Italian 3G operator 3 Italia. 3 Italia is Hutchison's largest European 3G operator in terms of subscribers with 7.7 million customers as of Aug. 22. Dresdner Kleinwort analyst Lawrence Sugarman said in a research note that the speculation was surprising. "Hutch recently conducted a review of its mobile operations in Europe and seemed to conclude that they were not for sale," he wrote. "In the past both Wind and Hutch have been rumored to be sellers in Italy." Sugarman estimates the price of 3 Italia to be between $11 billion and $14 billion.
To read more about a potential sale of 3 Italia:
- take a look at this article from Unstrung