Telecom Italia (TIM) said it will begin official discussions with KKR nearly four months after the US investment firm made a non-binding offer of $11.8 billion for the business. TIM said it has invited its CEO and chairman to speak with KKR to learn more about its prospective proposal after an almost six-hour board meeting on Sunday.    TIM noted in a statement that its board of directors had directed CEO PietroLabriola and chairman Salvatore Rossi to conduct formal conversations with KKR in addition to those already held by its advisers in order to maximize shareholder value in respect to other potential interested parties. The release  went on to say that the goal was to get information on the financial and industrial appeal and execution of KKR’s offer, as well as to define the length and breadth of the applicable confirmatory due diligence sought by the fund prior to a…