EU regulators to investigate if KKR provided misleading information in Telecom Italia deal

EU antitrust regulators will investigate whether U.S. investment firm KKR KKR provided incorrect or misleading information in its 22-billion-euro ($26 billion) acquisition of Telecom Italia's (TIM) TIT fixed-line network deal, the European Commission said on Thursday.

The Commission, which acts as the competition enforcer in the 27-country bloc, approved the deal unconditionally in May last year, attributing this in part to long-term agreements between FiberCop and telecoms companies Fastweb and Iliad.

FiberCop is Telecom Italia's last-mile grid unit.

"Under the investigation opened today, the Commission will assess whether KKR provided incorrect or misleading information about these agreements," the EU watchdog said in a statement.

The Commission has in recent years cracked down on companies providing misleading information during merger reviews and handed out hefty fines.