Citigroup, JP Morgan and Lehman Brothers have launched a $4bn (€3.4bn) bond for Telecom Italia, which is the Italian company's first fundraising in dollars and the first benchmark bond in the European telecoms sector for more than three months.

Telecom Italia, which merged with Olivetti, its parent company, in August, had been expected to raise at least $2bn. However, it was able to take advantage of strong demand from US private placement bond investors for European debt to double the size of the transaction, which comprised three tranches targeting the five-year, 10-year and 30-year maturities.