Tim signed an agreement with the investment company Ardian, which – at the head of a consortium – will invest in a new holding company which will transfer a share of the 30,2% of the Inwit tower company, currently in the hands of Telecom Italia. Upon completion of the operation, the Consortium - informs a note - will hold a 49% stake in the holding's capital, while 51% will be held by Tim, which will therefore continue to exercise joint control of Inwit together with Vodafone Europe.
But that's not all: Tim has also reached a second understanding with Canson Capital Partners, which will acquire another 3% of Inwit at the same price paid by the consortium, i.e. 9,47 euros per share (ex dividend). In this way Tim will collect a total of 1,6 billion euros.
The consortium will be granted minority governance rights over both the holding company and Inwit, in order to protect the investment made. The Holding will take over from Tim, in proportion to the stake held in Inwit, in the shareholders' agreement with which Tim and Vodafone Europe they control Inwit.
The deal is the largest ever by Ardian's direct funds and Ardian Infrastructure's first investment in the European telecommunications sector.
“Ardian believes that this partnership with Tim could be very fruitful in the future – commented Mathias Burghardt, member of the executive committee of Ardian and head of Ardian Infrastructure – Inwit is a strategic player and we are convinced that digital infrastructures, which have proven to be resilient during the Covid crisis, they will play an increasingly important role in all countries. This agreement also demonstrates Ardian's commitment to so-called 'Augmented' infrastructures of which telecommunications networks represent the backbone. We have been very happy to work hand in hand with Canson Capital Partners and other Italian and European investors in this collaboration with Tim and in supporting their strategic partnership with Vodafone”.
