Tim has signed a preliminary agreement with BT, private British telephone operator, which will allow the company led by Luigi Gubitosi to acquire the Italian business units of BT that offer services to the Public Administration and to the Small & Medium Business, or to small and medium-sized enterprises.
Going into details, the agreement concerns the business unit dedicated to the PA, which provides communication services to Ministries and government organizations at the central level, as well as various local and regional authorities, e the SMB Business Unit, which offers connectivity and cloud services to small and medium-sized businesses in Italy.
With the transfer of the business division dedicated to the Public Administration to Tim, "the group will expand its supply of communication and connectivity services, accelerating the digitization process of the Italian PA", the company said in a note. At the same time, the integration of the business branch dedicated to small and medium-sized enterprises will allow Tim to further diversify the offer of ICT and cloud solutions for SMEs.
The agreement, reads the note, also includes customer support activities of the SMB Business Unit, provided by the BT Contact Center in Palermo.
As for BT, the deal fits into the restructuring plan of the Global division, currently underway, through which the British company aims to focus on the provision of next-generation network, cloud and security services to multinational organizations. "BT will maintain a significant presence in Italy by serving large companies and multinationals and guaranteeing access to its global network and data centers", reassures the company.
In the fiscal year that ended last March, the two business branches at the center of the agreement between Tim and BT recorded revenues of approximately 90 million euro.
The agreement is subject to the completion of the appropriate procedure with the trade union organizations required by law and to theauthorization by the competent authorities. The closing of the transaction is expected within the first quarter of 2021.
After the announcement in Piazza Affari, the Telecom Italia stock travels just above parity (+0,1%), while in London ithe title Bt loses 2% to 135,3 pounds.
