Telecom Italia (TIM) and Vodafone have sold an 8% stake in their jointly owned tower company, INWIT.
TIM said it had raised around €400 million by selling a 4.3% stake at €9.60 per share. It will use the proceeds to cut debt.
“Vodafone sold an equal number of shares in the placing,” it added.
As a result of the transaction, Vodafone and TIM’s ownership will decrease from 37.5% each to 33.2%.
“Vodafone and TIM intend to retain joint control and to hold an equal stake in the share capital of INWIT,” a TIM statement said.
Merger
BofA Securities, Banca IMI, Goldman Sachs International and UBS acted as joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners of the offer. The settlement of the sale will take place on 27 April.
The sale follows the merger of Vodafone Italy’s towers into INWIT last month, bringing INWIT’s total number of towers to 22,000.
“INWIT is now Italy’s largest tower operator and will focus on maximising tower utilisation whilst also supporting the deployment of TIM and Vodafone Italy’s respective 5G networks,” a statement from TIM said in March.