KKR finds one more obstacle in its path to take over TIM. The Italian public capital bank Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) and the Australian investment group Macquarie have launched a non-binding offer for the entirety of Telecom Italia’s fixed telephone network, directly competing with the US fund. The decision has caused a rebound in the shares of Telecom Italia, whose titles rebounded 3%, to 0.32 euros.
The ‘teleco’ has admitted having received the non-binding takeover bid by CDP Equity, which is an investment holding company owned by CDP and the Australian fund. The proposal expires on March 31, so they have four weeks for the Related Parties Committee and the Board of Directors to study the offer. According to Italian media, the offer is 18 billion, with around 2-2.5 billion to reduce Tim’s debt and improve the one presented by KKR in February.
In fact, the media add, KKR’s proposal is structured, approximately, in 10,000 million debt and 10,000 million capital, which would be the value of Fibercop, in which the US fund invested 1,800 million two years ago and took over 37.5%. Both proposals are still far from the 31,000 million that Vivendi value, so the shock could be transferred to the shareholders’ meeting.
The Italian telecommunications group Telecom Italia (TIM) had a few days in a statement that KKR’s offer “can be improved” and urged the US fund to submit an “improved” offer before March 31. The Italian government had stated that it was “closely following the offer submitted by the KKR fund” to acquire a stake in Tim’s Netco, “a company that currently plays a crucial role in telephone services, in carrying out the broadband in our country and in the infrastructure of the National Strategic Pole”, highlighted the Ministry of Business and the ‘Made in Italy’.
