Eir owner Iliad offers to merge Italian operations with Vodafone Italia

The new joint-venture proposal implied an earnings multiple of 7.8 times, which was higher than the 7.1 times multiple offered last year

Vodafone has over 27% of the mobile phone market in Italy

Iliad, the French telecoms group that also owns Eir, has said it submitted a proposal to Vodafone to merge their Italian units, in a long anticipated move that will strengthen Iliad's presence across Europe. 

Iliad is controlled by French billionaire Xavier Niel who first took control of Eir six years ago and has expanded its presence rapidly elsewhere ever since.