OLIVETTI SEEKS TO STRENGTHEN RADIOCOR BUSINESS
Ing C Olivetti EC SpA <OLIV.MI> is in
contact with Telerate Inc <TLR> of the U.S. And other,
unidentifed groups with a view to strengthening its economic
news agency business <Radiocor - Agenzia Giornalistica
Economica Finanziaria SRL>, an Olivetti spokesman said.
    The spokesman was responding to a Reuters query following
an item in the Milan weekly Milano Finanza saying Dow Jones and
Co Inc <DJ>, which has a controlling stake in Telerate, could
become a partner in Radiocor through subscribing to a capital
increase.

    The spokesman said that Telerate was among many companies
with which Olivetti was in contact, with a view to
strengthening Radiocor through the entry into the business of
new partners, but that no accord had been reached.
    He declined to identify the other companies involved, but
Milano Finanza named the owners of the Italian financial daily
Il Sole 24-Ore and <Societa Elenchi Ufficiali degli Abbonati al
Telefono> as likely partners along with Telerate.

    Olivetti last month announced a joint information
technology deal with Societa Elenchi, which specialises in
publishing telephone and city directories, and the Italian
publishing group <L'Espresso>.
    Olivetti chairman Carlo De Benedetti told the Olivetti
annual meeting last week that the entry of new partners into
Radiocor was planned, but he did not elaborate.
    Industry sources said they believed talks between Olivetti
and Telerate had been taking place for some months.

    Olivetti acquired a 76 pct stake in Radiocor last December
and has since increased its stake in the agency to 100 pct.
    The takeover was followed in May this year by the
acquisiton by De Benedetti's French holding company <Cerus> of
a stake of around 35 pct in the French financial information
agency <Dafsa>.
    In May, Cerus also acquired a 4.9 pct stake in the British
publishing and financial services group Pearson Plc <PSON.L>.

 REUTER
