Enel's purchase of France Télécom's 26.6% stake in Wind, the Italian telecoms business, could pave the way for the French telecoms company to recoup some of its losses if the Italian electricity group goes ahead with an initial public offering by the end of next year.

Orange, France Télécom's mobile network, has made a €3bn ($3.2bn) writedown on its Wind stake in its 2002 full year results. Enel said Thursday it had paid approximately €1.5bn for the stake and now owns 100% of Wind.