Milan — The Italian government interrupted Telecom Italia’s board meeting on Tuesday  to halt the sale of part of its network to private equity firm KKR, just as executives were about to approve the deal.

KKR was poised to sign the purchase agreement for the former phone monopoly’s secondary network, when ministers sent Telecom Italia chair Salvatore Rossi a request for a one-month delay. The government views the sector as strategic and is keen to create a single ultrabroadband operator, according to people familiar with the matter...

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