On Sunday, the Italian communications company, TIM, came up with a statement that its board of directors has approved of the acquisition offer by the KKR investment company. Both companies have been going through negotiations for months, as the KKR investment company wants to acquire TIM.
TIM also stated that the approval from the board of directors was through a majority vote. As per the acquisition offer, the closing will happen by summer 2024.
According to Reuters.com,
“Telecom Italia (TIM) (TLIT.MI) on Sunday approved the 19 billion euro ($20 billion) sale of its fixed-line network to U.S. private equity firm KKR (KKR.N), becoming the first telecoms group in a major European country to part ways with its landline grid.”
As per reports, Italy’s conservative administration led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni also supports the deal. The asset is of national strategic importance, as it will help in bridging the digital divide with the rest of the European Union. However, the deal still faces scrutiny from anti-trust authorities of the European Union.
AP News added –
“The binding offer values NetCo — TIM’s fixed network assets but excluding Sparkle — at 18.8 billion euros (some $20 billion), said a statement from TIM.”
On the other hand, Italian State TV stated that the government would be a significant shareholder in the deal with the KKR investment company. The finance ministry, as per reports, will hold a 20% stake in the deal. The Government of Italy authorized the treasury to spend up to 2.2 billion euros for this deal.
This operation will allow TIM to reduce almost half of its debt ($31.5 billion), as well as reduce the number of employees.
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