Tim's board of directors gave the green light to the joint venture with Canal + - 60% Tim and 40% Canal + - as well as having examined the Palazzo Chigi measure on the golden power which affects the subsidiaries Sparkle and Telsy. On this last point, later the meeting between CEO Genish and Minister Calenda, the tones are conciliatory but the group does not say too much and makes it clear that they want to take all the time necessary to respond, i.e. the 90 days required by law.
It was Tim himself, with a press release on Friday evening, who communicated that he had "reviewed and approved by majority the binding term sheet for the creation of a joint venture with Canal+”.
The purpose of the joint venture, it is specified, is to design and implement the offer of premium video content that TIM will offer its customers to accelerate the development of fiber connectivity.
“With this operation, TIM is taking an important step forward in its convergence strategy between telco and media,” comments TIM's Chief Executive Officer Amos Genish. "The joint venture with Canal+ will allow us, in fact, to seize new growth opportunities in a constantly evolving market, through a commercial offer of fiber connectivity combined with premium video content".
The joint venture provides for the participation of 60% of TIM and 40% of Canal+. The Chief Executive Officer will be chosen from among the directors appointed by TIM within a board of directors made up of 5 members (of which 3 TIM and 2 Canal+), possessing a professional profile consistent with the initiative.
The transaction takes the form of a related party transaction, since Canal+ International SAS is a subsidiary of Vivendi SA, already qualified by Consob as the de facto parent company of TIM: in particular, it is a transaction of minor significance in the same way as the parameters established in the specific Regulation Consob. As such, it was the subject of a favorable opinion from the Control and Risk Committee, which was expressed by majority vote, with the reasoned against vote of two directors; on the other hand, the Committee unanimously expressed the sense of considering the joint venture's future operations as TIM operations, for the purposes of applying the corporate procedure for carrying out operations with related parties.
The Board of Directors, continues Tim's note, has also started examining the provision of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers of 28 September 2017, on the subject of notification pursuant to art. 2 of the so-called Golden Power decree and the decree of 16 October 2017, concerning the exercise of special powers pursuant to art. 1 of the same Golden Power decree.
The Board of Directors has reserved the right to investigate the effects of the decisions taken by the Government, and in particular of the initiatives for compliance with the provisions imposed on the wholly owned subsidiaries TIM Sparkle and Telsy, as well as on TIM itself. In this regard, TIM fully shares the Government's concerns regarding the protection of national security and defence, needs with respect to which it intends to carry out any useful dialogue in a spirit of full collaboration, without prejudice to corporate interests.
"It should be remembered - concludes the company - that TIM, Sparkle and Telsy have a deadline of 90 days to notify the Presidency of the Council of Ministers of the measures adopted for the purpose of complying with the aforementioned provisions".
