Swisscom has received all the necessary regulatory approvals to push ahead with its €8 billion ($8.43bn) acquisition of Vodafone Italy.

In a statement, the telco confirmed it has received clearance for the acquisition of Vodafone Italia from both the Italian Competition Authority (Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato) and the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy (MIMIT).

"This paves the way to the creation of a leading converged challenger in Italy, as all competent authorities approved the transaction," said Swisscom in a statement.

Last month, Italy's communications regulator AGCOM (Autorità per le Garanzie nelle Comunicazioni) also approved the deal, while the European Commission (EC) in September and the government gave their blessing in May.

Swisscom noted that Italy's Competition Authority cleared the merger on December 20, while MIMIT provided its approval to the deal a day earlier.

Swisscom said it expects the transaction to complete during the first quarter of next year.

Vodafone confirmed on March 15, that it had agreed to sell its Italian unit to Swisscom, in a deal that will see Swisscom merge Vodafone with its Italian subsidiary Fastweb.

The deal will be debt-financed and paid for in cash.

The merger will combine 3.4 million Fastweb customers with Vodafone's 20 million, making it the second-biggest telco in Italy behind struggling Telecom Italia (TIM).

For Vodafone, the deal is part of its overall strategy to streamline and revamp its operations. The company has already completed a sale of its Spanish business this year to UK investment firm Zegona, and is on track to merge with Three in the UK.