kkr back to the attack. The American private equity fund, already a shareholder of FiberCop, presented a'offer non-binding for the purchase of a shareholding in the Telecom Italy network. This is confirmed by the former monopolist in a note. The fund would have decided to go ahead on its way after the series of unsuccessful negotiations between the main shareholders of Tim, i.e. Vivendi (23,75%) and CDP (9,8%), which together with the government have been trying for some time to find a square to place the network under public control. But without results.
In the note, Tim explains that KKR has presented “a non-binding offer for a stake in Netco, which will carry the fixed network, including FiberCop, as well as the stake in Sparkle. The offer refers to a stake to be defined, it being understood that the purchase would result in the loss of vertical integration with Tim”.
The Board of Directors will meet today to begin the process of examining the non-binding offer.
Telecom network, KKR tries again: what happened?
A little over a year afterfriendly bid from 33 billion on Telecom Italia – rejected by politics even before by the company – the Americans of KKR try again. And there was certainly a first effect: the stock, which even only on the expectation of the offer on the After Hours market, was suspended with an increase of more than 4%.
Now the new intervention by the Americans, according to what La Repubblica writes at a price between 18 and 20 billion euros, should embarrass CDP (already a shareholder with 9,8% of Tim and 60% of Open Fiber). Even if the political reaction will be decisive: given that Tim's network is a strategic asset, Giorgia Meloni's government has a golden power on the company that allows him to block offers deemed unsuitable in view of the strategic nature of the group.
In all this time, however, much has changed. The expression of interest in launching a total takeover bid aimed at delisted valid upon reaching at least 51% of the share capital, it was fixed at a price of 0,505 euro per ordinary or savings share, against market prices of around 0,35 euro and a market capitalization of approximately 7,5 billion. To date, Telecom shares are worth almost half, or 0,26 euros and the company is capitalized at 5,6 billion.
