MILAN, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Vimpelcom and CKHutchison Holdings Ltd can invoke a buy-sell option onthe stakes they hold in the joint venture that merges theirItalian units from three years after the deal's conclusion, aVimpelcom presentation showed.
Earlier this month, the EU gave its greenlight to the 21.8billion euro ($24.56 billion) deal combining Hutchison's 3Italia with VimpelCom's Wind, putting them in a better positionto compete with rivals Telecom Italia and VodafoneItalia, part of Vodafone Group.
"After three years post-completion, each shareholder caninvoke a buy-sell mechanism at any time," the slide said.
One source close to the matter said the option would be usedin case the parties reach a deadlock in terms of decisionmaking.
According to the document, the deal's completion is expectedby the fourth quarter of this year. Vimpelcom and CK Hutchisonwill each own 50 percent of the HoldCo, which in turn combinesthe operations of Wind and 3 Italia.
Vimpelcom and CK Hutchison could not immediately be reachedfor comment.
($1 = 0.8878 euros) (Reporting by Stefano Rebaudo; writing by Agnieszka Flak;editing by Francesca Landini)