ROME, April 5 (Reuters) - Telecom Italia (TIM)

signed a 1.5-billion-euro ($1.62 billion) bridge loan to

strengthen its liquidity before the closing of the planned sale

of its fixed network to KKR, the phone group said on

Friday.

"The transaction is aimed at covering refinancing needs

until the closing date of the sale of NetCo, and has terms in

line with market benchmarks," TIM said in the statement.

The loan has a maturity of 18 months and the bookrunners are

BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole CIB, Deutsche Bank, J.P. Morgan,

Santander e Unicredit,

($1 = 0.9237 euros)