Telecom Italia said on Thursday it had agreed to sell its Hansenet German broadband business to Telefónica of Spain for €900m ($1.3bn), ending months of haggling over price.

The sale will allow Telecom Italia to reduce its €35.5bn of net debt and is another step in the operator’s move to concentrate on its core markets of Italy and Brazil. The company said it also meant it would “make further tapping of the bond market unnecessary” to refinance debt.