It's official: Wind Tre sells the majority of the network to the Swedish private equity fund eqt. It has been talked about for weeks, so much so that the operator's workers from all over the country have called strikes, demonstrations and protests against the network unbundling of Wind Tre to a Swedish investment fund. But finally, Eqt Infrastructure signed a deal for the acquisition of 60% of a newco that will own the Italian operator's fixed and mobile networks, in a transaction that establishes an enterprise value of 3,4 billion euros. The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals and is expected to close within six to nine months.
Daughter of a merger that in itself already highlighted all the problems of the telecommunications sector, the company born in 2016 from the union of Wind and Tre and controlled by the Hong Kong Ck Hutchison group since 2018 has never managed to make ends meet and now it uses one of the "recipes" already tested by other companies, the most famous Tim: the unbundling of the network. This is to cope with a market, that of telecommunications, which in recent years has been the protagonist of a sharp drop in revenues and margins due to the lowering of prices for a competitiveness between companies now too much aggressive. In short, with the spotlight on fate of Tim in the end the much feared spin-off of the network comes with another major Italian telephony operator, Wind Tre.
Wind Tre sells 60% of the network to Eqt: strategic investment
The purpose of the operation - explains a note - is to encourage the growth, extension and modernization of the Italian mobile network, through investments that respond to the needs required by new technologies, by 5G all'IoT. Following the spin-off of WindTre, the new company will control and manage the entire mobile network and a portfolio of assets including radio masts, base stations, carrier network and associated contracts. The company will also be the first independent access network in Europe primarily focused on mobile telephony and dedicated to the provision of wholesale services to mobile operators through its state-of-the-art network, which at the end of 2022 already covered around 67% of Italy with 5G reception.
“We have worked closely with CK Hutchison to develop this innovative transaction in the telecommunications sector. EQT strongly believes in the strategic logic of separating mobile operators' infrastructure and services and we see this investment as a model for future operations with operators in other European markets,” he commented. Francesco Malvezzi, Managing Director and Head of Italy of the Eqt Infrastructure advisory team.
The no of the unions
A decision that alarms the approximately 2 of the 6.500 telco workers who fear cuts in sight. Nothing has changed the strike of last May 4th. The unions continue to "reiterate their total opposition to the spin-off", arguing "that it represents a mere short-term financial operation, an economic efficiency without any industrial prospects and which, we fear, will generate employment repercussions in the future".
“The tariff war – he declared Richard Saccone, National Secretary of Slc Cgil - is in fact transforming the Italian Tlc sector into an 'emporium' where managers, in order to survive, actually stop investing in infrastructure and innovation, focusing exclusively on the provision of services at prices that are always more tattered, with all due respect to investments and the stability of the quality of employment”.
Wind Tre goes shopping in cybersecurity
Meanwhile, Wind Tre also announces an acquisition. That of 70% of bike, Specializing in cybersecurity. “The acquisition of Rad – he said Gianluca Corti, CEO of Wind Tre – represents a further important investment by our company and the shareholder in Italy. In particular, it confirms Wind Tre's willingness to continue to focus on the technological excellence of our country to offer increasingly advanced and diversified services, also in the B2B sector, as well as to support the digitization of businesses and public administrations".
