(Bloomberg) -- Open Fiber SpA lenders chose PJT Partners Inc. to advise them in talks with the Italian network operator, as the company seeks to tap funds to cover a €2 billion ($2.2 billion) funding gap.

A group of about 30 banks — a mix of Italian and international lenders including Banco BPM SpA, BNP Paribas SA, Intesa Sanpaolo SpA and UniCredit SpA — indicated PJT as their preferred choice to assist them in the negotiations, according to people familiar with the matter, who spoke to Bloomberg on condition of anonymity. Open Fiber has previously drawn down around €5 billion of a €7.2 billion credit line provided in 2021 and now wants to access the remainder, they said. 

The appointment of PJT isn’t official yet and the final line-up of advisers working with the banks may still change, the people said.

Open Fiber is seeking to access more credit lines as the company faces higher-than-expected spending to bring the network in rural areas of the country, the people said. 

Banks may ask for some form of burden-sharing from the company’s shareholders to allow Open Fiber to access the extra funds, they said. Some international lenders with limited exposure to the company are now weighing selling their holdings, separate people familiar with the matter said. 

A spokesperson for Open Fiber declined to comment. A representative for PJT didn’t respond to requests for comment. 

Open Fiber is controlled by CDP Equity, the investment arm of state lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti. The remaining 40% of the equity is held by a company related to the Macquarie Group. The company has been focused on reaching an agreement with the Italian government.

Open Fiber is set to receive €540 million to help boost connectivity in areas of Italy where it’s less profitable to invest, newspaper Corriere della Sera reported on Saturday. The board of Infratel Italia, a state company in charge of narrowing the digital divide across the country, has approved an advance payment under the European Union’s NextGenerationEU pandemic recover program for operators also including Telecom Italia SpA. 

Open Fiber last year reported sales of about €470 million and a net loss of €162 million.

In September, the company named Giuseppe Gola as chief executive officer, an industry veteran that almost a decade ago restructured about €10 billion debt of Italy’s third largest mobile phone carrier once known as Wind Telecomunicazioni SpA.

 

--With assistance from Antonio Vanuzzo.

(Updates with details in eighth paragraph.)

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