Italy readies decree to trigger TV towers tie-up, sources say

ROME (Reuters) - Italy is preparing a decree to ease a long-awaited tie-up between state-backed Rai Way and rival EI Towers, government officials said on Tuesday, which would create a TV towers group worth more than 2 billion euros ($2.17 billion).

The merger "is a concrete hypothesis but still requires some reflection," Cabinet Undersecretary Alberto Barachini told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Parliament.

A second official, asking not to be named, said the decree could allow state-owned broadcaster RAI to cut its stake in Rai Way below 30%.

News of the decree was first reported by Italian daily La Repubblica. Milan-listed shares in Rai Way rose as much as 6.4% after the report.

RAI holds 65% of Rai Way, while EI Towers is 60% owned by fund F2i and 40% by MediaForEurope (MFE), which is controlled by the family of late media tycoon and political leader Silvio Berlusconi.

The official added Rome intended to keep the tower infrastructure under state control, without providing further details on how the proposed merger should be implemented.

A previous blueprint for the deal would have seen Rai Way investors receive an extraordinary dividend worth up to 400 million euros.

RAI said in January it planned to sell a 15% stake in Rai Way to collect resources to fund its new industrial plan.

Following the announcement, Treasury sources told Reuters that the stake sale would not prevent RAI from exploring the tie-up between Rai Way and EI Towers at a later stage.

An option being discussed within the ruling coalition would see RAI sell shares of Rai Way to one or more state-sponsored investors, separate sources had previously told Reuters, in line with what Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti advised last July.

($1 = 0.9226 euros)

(Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte and Elvira Pollina; Editing by Sharon Singleton)