January is the new date as chairman Rossi decides to leave at the end of his term
Telecom Italia’s (TIM) board has voted unanimously to extend the deadline granted for KKR subsidiary Optics Bidco to complete due diligence activities and formulate a final offer for the telco’s submarine cable unit Sparkle
The new deadline is the end of January.
Sparkle’s international subsea cable network is more than 600,000km and its partial sale to KKR is part of Telecom Italia’s plan to offload its fixed infrastructure to reduce debt as a separate NetCo. The strategy is backed by Italy’s right-wing government.
Reuters reports that at a meeting last month, advisors for the operator and KKR discussed a valuation of around €750-800 million.
Vivendi rumbles
Telecom Italia officially split off its domestic fixed infrastructure in November, although the deal with KKR is opposed by Telecom Italia’s main shareholder, Vivendi, and others.
Championed by TIM CEO Pietro Labriola as a landmark deal to lighten the company’s debt pile and backed by Italy’s government, the fixed infrastructure sale was branded unlawful by Vivendi. The French company is expected to file a complaint with a Milan court to challenge the sale, according to Reuters, citing sources close to the deliberations.
In Vivendi’s view, shareholders disagreeing with the fixed infrastructure deal should be compensated and the finalisation of the deal should be suspended until judges decide on the case, according to the sources.
As part of the TIM board meeting, members also held a preliminary discussion on whether the board should present a list of candidates for the new board of directors. Chairman Salvatore Rossi confirmed that he did not intend to submit his own candidacy, believing that his experience of more than four years at TIM “should naturally draw to a close with the expiration of his term”, according to reports.
Rossi has chaired TIM’s board since 2019. Vivendi has clashed with him over corporate governance issues on several occasions and has repeatedly sought to replace him, according to Reuters.
Update: Vivendi makes it move
TIM announced on Friday (15 Dec) that it has received notification of an ordinary writ of summons from Vivendi, challenging the legitimacy of the board resolution passed by the company on 5 November, through which the sale of the so-called NetCo was approved.
TIM added that Vivendi did not formulate any request for precautionary measures, nor did it request an urgent injunction to prevent the execution of the resolution and the consequent negotiation acts.
In a statement TIM said the activities envisaged in the agreements with KKR aimed at the closing of the transaction will therefore continue as planned, without delay or interruption.