MILAN (Reuters) – U.S. private equity fund KKR and the Italian Treasury are set to ask Telecom Italia (TIM) for more time to organize a joint bid to buy its landline network, three sources close to the firm said folder.
Last month, KKR won the support of Giorgia Meloni’s government, which authorized the Treasury to join its bid to buy an asset deemed of national strategic interest.
The preliminary offer values ​​the company called NetCo at around 23 billion euros, including debt and taking into account a number of variables.
In June, TIM granted KKR a period of exclusive negotiations extending until the end of September to submit a binding offer for NetCo, which includes TIM’s fixed line network and its submarine cable businesses. Sparkle. KKR and the Italian Treasury are, however, preparing to make a formal request to TIM for “a few more weeks” of time to finalize the offer, sources said on Wednesday, with one adding that the extension could be two weeks.
The Treasury needs the green light from the Court of Auditors which should give its opinion in October, which motivates the request for extension, according to two of the sources.
TIM leaders will discuss this request during a meeting scheduled for September 27.
The Treasury also intends to ask the country’s antitrust body to ensure that the transaction does not raise competition concerns, Reuters revealed on August 29.
The government is targeting a ministry stake worth up to €2.2 billion in NetCo.
Vivendi’s support for a buyout will be important, since the French group owns 24% of TIM and is the largest shareholder. However, Vivendi has so far shown little interest in KKR’s conditions.
Vivendi’s chief executive, Arnaud de Puyfontaine, has requested a meeting with top aides to Italian Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti to discuss the deal, separate sources said.
The Treasury is considering the proposal, one of these sources said, without adding further details.
(Report Elvira Pollina, Giuseppe Fonte, Corentin Chappron, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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