Wind Tre also is reported to be looking to sell at least part of its mobile network
After the Telecom Italia (TIM) board meeting yesterday, the board announced it wants more moeny for its NetCo.
The board said while it appreciated the bid to buy the NetCo from Australia’s Macquarie fund and Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP), which is backed by the Italian state, it has urged them to come back with a better offer.
Prior to the CDP-Macquarie bid, KKR had also made a non-binding offer for the NetCo: both offers are believed to be about €20 billion. The second bid is thought to be looked on more favourably as the Italian government has stated that it sees the communications infrastructure as strategic, and will not cede entire control of it.
Further non-binding bids are invited by 18 April, with the Italian government rumoured to be looking for a new bid of €25 billion or more. However, TIM’s largest shareholder, French media group Vivendi, thinks it’s worth more like €31 billion.
As it did after the KKR non-binding offer, TIM will furnish the CDP-Macquarie consortium with more information to help it see the wisdom of a higher bid.
More Wind of change
And while the TIM saga winds ever on, Wind Tre is looking selling off at least some of its NetCo. Wind Tre’s parent company, CK Hutchison, sold off its towers and other passive infrastructure as part of a pan-European deal with Cellnex back in 2021.
Now it’s looking to raise more capital from its mobile network and reportedly is in the latter stages of negotiations with Swedish private equity outfit EQT. Details are scarce but already it seems the unions representing Wind Tre’s employees are demanding talks with the operator.
No wonder the unions are twitchy: earlier this week Vodafone Italy announced it would cut almost 20% of its workforce, meaning about 1,000 people will lose their jobs, according to Reuters.
Vodafone and Wind Tre have felt the full force of Iliad’s no-frills entry into the Italian market under the Free brand in 2018, with both losing customers to the cheaper interloper.