Olivetti managing director Roberto Colaninno declined to comment on the outcome of board talks held by Olivetti and its Tecnost unit that wants to launch the $58 billion bid, but told reporters, "There'll be a statement in the night".

Olivetti ploughed through late-night talks with bourse watchdog Consob to see how its previous offer for Telecom could be reworked after Consob dismissed it on Monday as invalid.

Sources said Olivetti was not expected to raise the 10 euro ($11.02) per share offer price just yet, but was desperate to get the bid back on the rails ahead of a Telecom Italia board meeting due on Thursday. Italian law makes it harder for a company to put up new defences once it becomes an official takeover target. Sources close to the deal said earlier Olivetti plannedto announce a five 5 trillion lire ($2.85 billion) capital increase to help fund the bid and confirm the planned sale to Germany's Mannesmann AG of its telecom business to deal with Consob objections that an earlier version was too vague.