Tim, Open Fiber is the best partner for the network. The Kkr takeover bid has margins of uncertainty but "we have not approached Kkr to tell him to withdraw from the offer". It is with these words that Tim's CEO Pietro Labriola wanted to deny the background stories circulated in recent days. And after the BoD Tim who gave the go-ahead to the 2022-24 business plan, the separation of the service network and the negotiation with Ardian for the sale of the stake in the Inwit towers, returns to talking about the topic that keeps investors most on the ropes. The stock exchange welcomed the 2021 budget results with a thud, approved late on Wednesday evening. The Tim stock got off to a bad start on the Stock Exchange on Thursday morning and lost 15,5% at the end of the morning when the Ftse Mib fell by 0,8% to 24.346 points. Telecom Italia shares are listed at 29 cents, well below the 50,5 cents offered by Kkr as an indicative price.
Tim, Open Fiber is the most interesting industrial partner
Tim's new industrial plan provides for the creation of two companies, NetCo for the fixed network and ServCo for commercial fixed and mobile services. The reorganization "is preparatory to the loss of vertical integration - Labriola clarified in a quick press conference -, trying to recover the regulatory dividend in the network segment and in the remaining part of the company".
Just today, a Board of Directors of Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (Open Fiber shareholder with 60% and Tim with about 10%) is scheduled to evaluate the possibility of integrating the two companies for the single network project. “From an industrial point of view – Pietro Labriola then observed – Cdp with Open Fiber is the most interesting industrial partner. After that, it's up to them to carry out the necessary analyzes to verify the efficiencies".
Tim, the Kkr takeover bid presents uncertainties but Kkr is important for FiberCop
"Kkr is an important industrial partner of ours, we are satisfied with the relationship with them, the dialogue is constant and constructive du FiberCop". Coming instead to the takeover bid proposed by Kkr on 100% of Tim, "there is a series of elements of uncertainty that make the offer hardly comparable with the practices of the financial market". This is how Labriola replied to those who asked him if Kkr could be considered a partner or a rival of Tim, in the light of the offer to take over 100% of the Tlc group. It should be remembered that Tim holds the majority of FiberCop with 58%, the remaining 4,5% is held by Fastweb through the contribution of the 20% held in the Flash Fiber joint venture. The Kkr Fund entered with a 37,5% stake in the fiber company, Open Fiber's rival.
Going on to the valuation of the asset and the offer of 0,505 euro per Tim share, Labriola specified that Kkr's offer seems to valorise the group's assets in a manner quite similar to the one we are proposing: separating the network and valorising the other assets. The provocation is: if they do it externally, it means that they see the possibility of creating a value greater than 0,5 euro. No one does charity and it is probable, therefore, that this creation of value can take place even if we do it internally. In this case, the delta of value generated can probably be distributed among all the shareholders”.
Finally, with regard to the rumors circulated regarding an invitation addressed to Kkr to renounce the takeover bid, Pietro Labriola stated that "our contacts with Kkr are only through advisors, aimed at better understanding the business plan and the ways in which you want to proceed". The answer that the American Fund is still waiting for, however, should not be long in coming. Much will depend on the decisions of CDP and in any case Tim's board has ensured rapid times.
Tim, the Ardian offer for Inwit closes by June
Tim's CEO also commented on the restricted offer presented by Ardian for 30,2% of the capital of Inwit (the tower company also owned by Vodafone), already positively evaluated by the Board on Wednesday evening. “We expect – he said – to arrive at the definitive closing in June, also through all the Antitrust and golden power steps”. Labriola stated that the company that manages the towers has an implicit value of 10,75 euros per share and affirmed that the operation "is an important step" in the project of "rationalization of the capital structure".
