The KKR venture capital fund asks the telecommunications group Telecom Italia (TIM) to extend the term of its non-binding offer to purchase a stake in the fixed network, at the request of the Italian Executive. The extension of the term “is due to a request from the Government to have four additional weeks to carry out a joint analysis of the public aspects of the operation regarding the powers that the Government can exercise in the sector,” TIM specifies in a statement.
The extension extends the deadline until March 24 for KKR’s offer, which, in any case, “has confirmed its willingness to continue a constructive dialogue with TIM and to continue with due diligence activities.” On February 2, the Italian group revealed that it had received a non-binding offer from KKR to “acquire a stake in the creation of a company that coincides with the perimeter of management and infrastructure of the fixed network, including the assets and activities of FiberCop , as well as the participation in Sparkle (called Netco)”.
It is “a non-binding offer referring to a stake to be defined, understanding that the purchase would imply the loss of vertical integration with TIM”, so not TIM. “TIM confirms that, in any case, the Board of Directors will be held on February 24, 2023 to discuss KKR’s non-binding offer and make the appropriate decisions,” the Italian group concluded in its latest statement.
The Board of Directors of the Italian telecommunications company will meet to examine the offer of the US fund, one of the main shareholders of the Spanish MásMóvil after the takeover bid launched in 2020 and which has submitted an offer for all of TIM in 2021 that there is no confirmation.
The Government is “closely following the offer presented by the KKR fund” to acquire a stake in Tim’s Netco, “a company that today plays a crucial role in telephone services, in the realization of broadband in our country and in the infrastructure of the National Strategic Pole”, indicated the Ministry of Companies and the ‘Made in Italy’ (MIMIT) on the 2nd, when the offer was announced.
For the Executive, “the safeguarding of employment levels and the security of a strategic infrastructure such as the national telecommunications network are fundamental. Based on these premises, the evolution of the main Italian telephone company will be evaluated,” he added.
KKR’s offer comes after the government has expressed in recent months its desire to have a national network under public control, with a project led by the public bank Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP), which last year had signed a memorandum on the network front with TIM, Macquarie, KKR itself and Open Fiber.
TIM announced in 2022 preliminary talks with CDP to analyze a possible integration with its broadband rival, Open Fiber, within the framework of the reorganization of its assets that they carried out as a result of which KKR will be interested in buying the entirety of the company in November. teleco” Italian for 10,800 million euros.
