MILAN: Telecom Italia (TIM) has signed a preliminary agreement with BT to buy two of the British telecoms group's business units in Italy, the companies said in a joint statement on Thursday.

The two units serve Italy's public administration and small and medium businesses and had combined revenues of about 90 million euros ($109 million) in the fiscal year ending in March.

BT, Britain's biggest fixed-line and mobile telecoms firm, will continue to operate in Italy serving multinational businesses and organisations, under a broader overhaul of BT's global operations.

The transaction, whose value was not disclosed, is expected to be completed by the end of the first quarter of next year.

BT's Italian unit was hit by an accounting scandal which required the company to take a 530 million pound ($705 million) charge in early 2017.