Wind and 3 Italia merge

(ANSA) - Milan, November 7 - Italian mobile network operators 3 Italia and Wind as of Monday will be both controlled by the joint venture CK Hutchinson and VimpelCom, according to a statement released by the company.
    Wind CEO Maximo Ibarra will lead the joint venture, supported by Dina Ravera, the merger integration officer, and by Stefano Invernizzi, in the role of chief financial officer.
    Vincenzo Novari, CEO of 3 Italia, will take on the role of special adviser to CK Hutchinson.
    The statement added that the new company aims to reach a "synergy in terms of costs and investments worth 700 million euros a year".
    The Co-Managing Director of CK Hutchinson, Canning Fok, said the merger will "bring benefits to business customers and consumers - through greater reliability, speed and network coverage - and allow Italy to remain in a leading position in the digital economy the global". European anti-trust regulators in September cleared the 21.8-billion-euro deal to merge Hutchinson's 3 Italia and Vimpelcom's Wind.