Poste Italiane's chief executive has spoken out on the reported €10.8 billion bid for Telecom Italia, offering the postal operator's first public follow-up since news of the approach surfaced.

The figure — €10.8 billion — is the single hardest number in the story, and it frames the scale of what would be one of the largest telecom transactions in Europe this decade. The bid targets Telecom Italia, Italy's incumbent operator and the country's dominant fixed and mobile player. Poste Italiane, the state-linked postal and financial services group, has now been dragged squarely into the centre of the takeover discussion.

Mobile Europe reports that the CEO used the follow-up to respond to questions about the offer, putting the postal group's leadership on record for the first time since the bid figure became public. The €10.8 billion valuation will attract scrutiny from Telecom Italia's shareholders, who must judge whether the price reflects the operator's asset base and its recent network reorganisation.

For Telecom Italia, the approach arrives after years of balance-sheet pressure and strategic restructuring. Any bid at this level implies a view that the operator's underlying infrastructure — its fixed access network and mobile operations — carries value not fully recognised by the market. It also puts Italy's government in a familiar position: Rome has long treated Telecom Italia as a strategic national asset, and a state-linked bidder such as Poste Italiane inevitably raises questions about industrial policy as much as about telecoms economics.

The involvement of Poste Italiane is itself notable. The group has built a substantial financial services franchise on top of its postal operations, and a move on Telecom Italia would represent a decisive diversification into connectivity infrastructure. Whether that fits its risk profile is a question the CEO's remarks will now be tested against.

At €10.8 billion, the offer also sets a benchmark for how European incumbents are being valued after a period in which tower sell-offs, fibre network carve-outs and wholesale deals have reshaped operator balance sheets across the continent. Rival bidders, if any emerge, would have to clear this bar.

Investors and regulators will now watch for three things: whether Poste Italiane formalises the offer, how Telecom Italia's board responds to the valuation, and whether the Italian government signals its position on state involvement in the country's largest telecom operator. The CEO's follow-up keeps the process moving, but a binding offer, a board recommendation and regulatory review all remain ahead before any transaction can close.