Record losses, ratings plunge – will SACE support Labriola plan?
Telecom Italia (TIM) has started talks with trusted banks for a new credit line worth around €3 billion (US$3.3 billion) that could be partly guaranteed by Italy’s trade insurer SACE, say Bloomberg News sources.
Debt-laden and hit by multiple rating downgrades following a record annual loss last year, the former state monopoly is being led on a course charted by new CEO Pietro Labriola, an infrastructure expert who wants to reshape the business by spinning off assets. TIM has initiated talks with a pool of banks UniCredit, BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole and Santander over the credit line deal, the sources said.
Under a guarantee scheme Italy used in the first COVID-19 wave in 2020 to help companies raise new debt, SACE is allowed to cover up to 80% of financing. Some financiers close to the deal have questioned if TIM is eligible to tap such a scheme. News about talks between TIM, SACE and banks over a possible €3 billion loan was first reported by Bloomberg News.