The deadline has been moved to 24 March
The Italian government has asked the private equity firm KKR to give it four more weeks to consider the investor’s offer for Telecom Italia’s (TIM’s) netco
KKR has agreed and the deadline has been moved from 24 February to 24 March. TIM said in statement that the government wants to “carry out an analysis of the public aspects of the transaction concerning the powers exercisable by the government in the sector,” noted TIM in an announcement.
TIM’s planned board meeting on 24 February will go ahead to “discuss KKR’s non-binding offer and take the appropriate decisions”. No official value has been set for KKR’s bid but it rumoured to be about €20 billion.
Previously the government has said it wants what it describes as critical infrastructure to pass into public ownership, while there are a number of other interested parties and shareholders involved.
Strategic imperative
Although she did not make any direct comment about TIM, last week at Capital Markets Day, Orange’s CEO, Christel Heydemann, probably spoke for many in Europe when shestressed the importance of regulation and the strategic value of telecoms infrastructure.
She said, “People are realising what’s happening, which is that some traditional operators cannot [afford to] invest in infrastructure anymore… So many infrastructure firms are coming to invest, to acquire the infrastructure.
“Obviously tech players are capturing some value, but what’s going to happen in five to 10 years if we actually don’t know who owns the infrastructure that is so critical for the security and resilience of Europe? This is a political debate. This is not for us as companies to decide, but this is where we all have a strong voice – as European leaders we need to change something.”
Like many others in the industry, she is pinning her hopes on the European Commission’s imminent consultation on cross-border mergers and acquisitions, and the possibility of Big Tech contributing to telecoms capex. She added, “Again, the objective is to make sure we can, for the long term, continue to invest in our infrastructure and understand who owns the infrastructure”.
It remains to be seen if the Italian government will plump for euros now instead of control of one potentially of the biggest drivers of its economy and security.