ROME, Feb 8 Reuters Italian state lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti CDP and Australian fund Macquarie are preparing a counteroffer for Telecom Italia39;s TIM network assets worth about 20 billion euros 21.46 billion, Il Messaggero newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The move would be a response to U.S. investment firm KKR, which last week filed its own offer for the same Telecom Italia TIM asset, reportedly also worth around 20 billion euros.

Il Messaggero said CDP would put in 60 of the offer and Macquarie the remaining 40. It reported that the bid was being prepared with the help of Credit Suisse CSAG.UL, BofA Merrill Lynch and the BonelliErede law firm.

The paper also said CDP Chief Executive Dario Scannapieco met with Italian Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti to agree on a move that would fit with the government39;s aim to put TIM39;s network under public control.

On Tuesday, sources close to the matter told Reuters that CDP was sounding out banks that could help finance its offer for TIM39;s grid assets, but one source indicated that CDP was likely to present a bid just with Macquarie.

CDP is the secondlargest shareholder in TIM, after France39;s Vivendi, but also controls Open Fiber, which has a rival fibre optic network infrastructure that would be combined with TIM39;s assets.

Macquarie is already a minority investor in Open Fiber and has been involved for months in a plan to combine the two network infrastructures.

Carving out and ceding control of TIM39;s…