DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Telecom Italia CEO defends grid deal as top investor threatens legal challenge
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Telecom Italia (TIM) logo is seen displayed in this illustration taken, May 3, 2022. CEO Pietro Labriola's comments follow criticism from top shareholder Vivendi (VIV.PA), which has threatened a legal challenge to the plan to sell the grid, saying it considered the decision to proceed without a shareholder vote as "unlawful". "It is not possible under the Italian law to transfer such competence to the shareholders," the CEO added. According to Vivendi, the sale required an extraordinary shareholder vote because it would change TIM's corporate purpose and therefore required a change to the company bylaws. Labriola said the deal is "no more than the strict execution of the delayering (business) plan" unanimously approved in 2022.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Pietro Labriola's, Labriola, Agostino Nuzzolo, Elvira Pollina, Giulia Segreti, Jan Harvey Organizations: Telecom Italia, REUTERS, Rights, Telecom, KKR, Vivendi, TIM, Thomson Locations: Milan

☆ Telecom Italia gives green light to KKR's grid bid, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-05 | by ( Elvira Pollina | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Telecom Italia (TIM) logo is seen displayed in this illustration taken, May 3, 2022. The price tag can reach 22 billion euros when including some future payments were a long-awaited combination of TIM's grid with that of state-backed fibre optic rival Open Fiber materialise, the first two sources said. Italian infrastructure fund F2i is also preparing to take a stake in the grid to bring the holding in Italian hands to 30%-35%. With its 24% TIM stake, Vivendi has warned TIM's board it is ready to bring a legal challenge to the sale after criticising its approval process, documents seen by Reuters showed. ($1 = 0.9321 euros)Reporting by Elvira Pollina; Editing by Valentina ZaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Giorgia, Pietro Labriola's, Merlyn Advisors, Stefano Siragusa, Elvira Pollina, Valentina Za Organizations: Telecom Italia, REUTERS, Vivendi, Sunday, KKR, Reuters, TIM, Treasury, Thomson Locations: MILAN, London

☆ Telecom Italia approves KKR's $20 billion grid bid in blow for Vivendi
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-05 | by ( Elvira Pollina | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Telecom Italia (TIM) logo is seen displayed in this illustration taken, May 3, 2022. The board started a review of KKR's offer on Friday, approving it on Sunday, TIM said. The sale's 18.8 billion euro price tag, including debt, could reach 22 billion euros if certain conditions are met, TIM said. TIM said it would not put the board's decision to a shareholder vote, in a setback for leading shareholder VivendI (VIV.PA). Vivendi, which owns 24% of TIM, has been seeking a higher price and questioned the sustainability of the business left behind.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Giorgia, Pietro Labriola's, Labriola, Merlyn Advisors, Merlyn, Elvira Pollina, Valentina Za, Will Dunham Organizations: Telecom Italia, REUTERS, TIM, Vivendi, Sunday, KKR, European Union, Treasury, VivendI, Thomson Locations: Italy, MILAN, London

☆ Explainer: What's at stake in Telecom Italia grid deal?
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

TIM is selling NetCo, a venture comprising both TIM's domestic fixed-access network and international wholesale telecoms operator Sparkle. TIM's landline network covers nearly 89% of the country's households and its fibre cable stretches over 23 million kilometres across the country. Beyond TIM's grid, a second major network is being rolled out by Open Fiber, a company controlled by CDP and Australian investment group Macquarie. There had long been talks of trying to combine TIM's network with Open Fiber but competition concerns have hampered such a deal so far. With its 24% voting stake, Vivendi could throw a spanner in the works at any TIM shareholder meeting to vote on a deal or challenge it in the courts.

Persons: Yara, Pietro Labriola's, Giorgia, Elvira Pollina, Keith Weir, Anil D'Silva Organizations: REUTERS, KKR, Italian Treasury, Telecom Italia's, TIM, WHO, Vivendi, Treasury, Trade, Macquarie, Thomson Locations: Rome, Italy

KKR's approach incorporates a value for TIM's fixed landline network that could top 23 billion euros ($25 billion). TIM plans to analyse in depth the terms to be proposed by KKR, one of the sources said. Having already invested 1.8 billion euros in the grid, KKR has bid for a controlling stake in a unit comprising TIM's entire domestic fixed access network and submarine cable business Sparkle. KKR is also ready to let TIM retain a stake in its landline network. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's administration will have a say on any deal as Rome can use its "golden powers" rules to set conditions or block bids for strategic assets such as TIM's network.

Persons: Pietro Labriola's, Giancarlo Giorgetti, Giorgia Meloni's, Giuseppe Fonte, Elvira Pollina, Valentina Za, Kirsten Donovan Organizations: KKR, TIM, Telecom Italia, Macquarie, Reuters, Vivendi, Treasury, Thomson Locations: ROME, Rome

MILAN, June 10 (Reuters) - U.S. fund KKR (KKR.N) strengthened its lead in the race to secure the landline grid of Telecom Italia (TIM) (TLIT.MI) when it offered to raise its bid by up to or over 2 billion euros ($2.2 billion), two people with knowledge of the matter said. The value of KKR's offer could top 23 billion euros overall, widening the gap with a rival proposal by a consortium comprising Italian state lender CDP and Australian fund Macquarie (MQG.AX). The improved offer would still be short of a valuation of more than 30 billion euros for the grid sought by TIM's top shareholder Vivendi (VIV.PA). Sources had previously told Reuters that both Labriola and some leading Italian officials already saw KKR as the strongest bidder prior to Friday's proposal. TIM's board meets to review the proposals on June 19 and is expected to take a decision on June 22.

Persons: Pietro Labriola's, Labriola, KKR, Macquarie, Akriti Sharma, Elvira Pollina, Marguerita Choy, Leslie Adler Organizations: MILAN, KKR, Telecom Italia, Macquarie, Vivendi, Reuters, TIM, Thomson Locations: ServCo, NetCo, Bengaluru, Milan

MILAN, June 9 (Reuters) - Telecom Italia (TIM) (TLIT.MI) said on Friday it received two new offers for its landline grid as Italy's biggest telecoms group seeks to resolve the impasse over the sale of its main asset. U.S. fund KKR (KKR.N) and a rival consortium comprising state lender CDP and Australian fund Macquarie (MQG.AX) separately submitted bids for Telecom Italia's network, according to a statement. Debt-crippled TIM had sought improved offers for its most valuable asset after having assessed as not yet adequate the proposals received in May. The antitrust problems are linked to CDP and Macquarie's owning fibre optic wholesale provider Open Fiber. Treasury-owned CDP is the second-largest investor in TIM after France's Vivendi (VIV.PA) with a 10% stake.

Persons: Pietro Labriola's, Akriti Sharma, Elvira Pollina, Marguerita Choy, Leslie Adler Organizations: MILAN, Telecom Italia, KKR, Macquarie, Telecom Italia's, TIM, Treasury, France's Vivendi, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru, Milan

☆ KKR, CDP rival consortium readying new bids for Telecom Italia's grid
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Elvira Pollina | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MILAN, June 8 (Reuters) - U.S. fund KKR (KKR.N) and a rival consortium comprising state lender CDP and Australian fund Macquarie (MQG.AX) are readying to submit slightly improved bids for Telecom Italia's (TIM) (TLIT.MI) network ahead of a June 9 deadline, sources said. KKR and the CDP-led consortium offered 21 billion euros($22.5 billion) and 19 billion euros, respectively, for TIM's domestic landline grid and its submarine unit Sparkle, sources have previously said. Their approach for TIM's grid is part of a plan to combine Open Fiber with the former phone monopoly infrastructure, which has been complicated by antitrust issues. People familiar with the matter told Reuters last month the Treasury CDP joining forces with KKR for TIM's grid, with one source saying government officials were pushing for CDP to drop its separate proposal. But Macquarie is raising about a possible alliance between CDP and KKR, other sources said at the time, citing clauses in the Open Fiber shareholder pact.

Persons: Macquarie, Pietro Labriola's, Elvira Pollina, David Evans Organizations: MILAN, KKR, Macquarie, Telecom Italia's, TIM, Reuters, Treasury, Vivendi, Telecom, Thomson

☆ Telecom Italia urged to call board meeting to name Vivendi candidate - sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MILAN, May 20 (Reuters) - Telecom Italia (TIM) (TLIT.MI) is being urged by some directors to hold an extraordinary board meeting to name a candidate sponsored by top investor Vivendi (VIV.PA) to fill a vacant director seat at the former phone monopoly, two sources said on Saturday. One of the sources said Telecom Italia's nomination committee will start a review of Carta's candidacy on Monday, adding no board meeting has yet been called. The board seat has been vacant since January when Vivendi Chief Executive Arnaud de Puyfontaine quit the board asking for a new governance set-up. In their latest bids, KKR and the rival consortium offered 21 billion euros ($23.12 billion) and 19 billion euros, respectively, for the asset, source have previously said, some 10 billion euros below Vivendi's price tag to back a deal. TIM directors are expected to discuss the bids at an ordinary board meeting due on June 22.

☆ Telecom Italia urged to call board meeting to name Vivendi candidate
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

☆ Italy's TIM seeks final offer for grid by June 9
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Elvira Pollina Jubabu | Elvira Pollina | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

TIM directors gathered on Thursday to draw a response to rival non binding approaches for its landline grid by KKR (KKR.N) and a consortium comprising state lender CDP and fund Macquarie (MQG.AX), worth 21 billion euros ($23 billion) and 19.3 billion euros, respectively. In a statement after the board meeting, TIM said it deemed the bids "not yet adequate", adding at least one of the bidders had expressed its readiness to improve its non-binding offer. Three sources with knowledge of the matter said KKR was willing to work further on its bid's terms. Italian last month said her right-wing administration would not intervene at this stage in the network sale process, although it is on alert to avoid any risk to the national interest. ($1 = 0.9081 euros)Reporting by Elvira Pollina and Juby Babu, Editing by Franklin PaulOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ TIM to ask CDP-Macquarie to raise network bid, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The joint offer values TIM's grid at some 18 billion euros ($19.3 billion), including debt, sources have said. KKR, which already owns a minority stake in TIM's grid, offered up to 20 billion euros, including a 2 billion euros earnout mechanism - a valuation which was also billed as too low by TIM last month. The TIM board will meet on Wednesday to draw up a response to the CDP-Macquarie preliminary bid. Vivendi has indicated a price tag of 31 billion euros to back selling the grid. TIM itself has indicated a valuation of 25 billion euros, sources told Reuters last year.

CDP has teamed up with Australian infrastructure fund Macquarie (MQG.AX) to bid for Italy's most important telecommunications infrastructure, for which U.S. investment firm KKR (KKR.N) has already presented an offer. One of the people familiar with the matter said that CDP board members were set to meet at 3 p.m. (1400 GMT) to approve the offer. In recent weeks, sources have told Reuters that CDP-Macquarie and KKR have both set an 18-billion-euro ($19 billion) enterprise value for TIM's grid. CDP's offer would also involve TIM's smaller fibre-optic network rival Open Fiber, which is owned by CDP and Macquarie and would be folded into TIM's grid down the road. Under Italian rules, Rome has the power to block unwanted interest for assets of strategic importance such as TIM's grid.

CDP has teamed up with Australian infrastructure fund Macquarie (MQG.AX) in the offer for Italy's most important telecommunications infrastructure, which would compete with one submitted by U.S. investment firm KKR (KKR.N). In recent weeks, sources have told Reuters that CDP and Macquarie were ready to value TIM's grid at around 18 billion euros ($19 billion), including some 6 billion euros of debt. An offer from CDP and Macquarie leaves several scenarios open, two government officials said, without elaborating. Besides owning 10% of TIM, CDP controls fibre optic rival Open Fiber. Meloni's predecessors, Mario Draghi and Giuseppe Conte, have both backed plans to combine TIM's and Open Fiber's grids.

Meloni's administration wants to secure public control of TIM's grid, but there is no common ground within the government on how to achieve this. KKR, which has already invested 1.8 billion euros ($1.9 billion)on TIM's grid, has now bid for a controlling stake in a unit comprising the entire TIM's domestic fixed access network and submarine cable business Sparkle. Ceding control of TIM's grid is a main plank of TIM Chief Executive Pietro Labriola's efforts to cut the former phone monopoly's 25 billion euro net debt and revamp its struggling domestic business. TIM's confirmed its board would meet on Friday to discuss KKR's offer and "take appropriate decisions". CDP's potential offer has been hampered in part by regulatory concerns given it is the main investor in TIM's fibre-optic rival Open Fiber, people familiar with the matter said.

SummarySummary Companies Government met TIM's key shareholders CDP, Vivendi on ThursdayWants to spin off Sparkle, put it under state controlSparkle manages fibre cables that stretch over 500,000 kmROME, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Italy's government wants to bring Telecom Italia's (TLIT.MI) (TIM) submarine cable unit Sparkle into state hands, three sources close to the matter told Reuters. The plan emerged after the government on Thursday started talks with leading TIM investors Vivendi (VIV.PA) and state lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) to identify "the best market-friendly options" for the phone group. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's administration aims to secure control of TIM's landline grid, an asset deemed of strategic importance, to create a wholesale-only broadband player. But the sources added that Rome also wants a spin-off of Sparkle, given the sensitivity of the data it carries, in order to put the unit into state hands. The sources said there would at least be three more government-sponsored meetings with TIM's stakeholders, with one scheduled for Dec. 20.

But key officials in Giorgia Meloni's right-wing government have expressed strong reservations about CDP's plans for TIM, making a non-binding bid from the state lender for the network unlikely, three sources told Reuters. Top government officials are expected to meet later on Monday to discuss plans for TIM, among other issues. Marking a break with the past, Meloni on Friday entrusted the government's broadband strategy to Cabinet Undersecretary Alessio Butti, who has openly criticised CDP's plans for TIM. Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti last week reiterated that the government wants to win control of TIM's network which is deemed of strategic interest, adding such a goal can be reached in "several ways". Giorgetti also warned that Butti's plans for TIM needs to be extensively discussed within the government.

Cabinet undersecretary Alessio Butti will now be in charge of the strategy, according to a decree on Friday seen by Reuters. Butti has been critical of the previous government's plan to cut TIM's 25 billion euro ($26 billion) debt pile by selling its landline grid. The sale is a key plank of CEO Pietro Labriola's strategy to break up and revamp the battered company. The multi-billion euro offer would be part of a broader project to merge TIM's network with smaller rival Open Fiber, which is controlled by CDP. Earlier this month Giorgetti warned that Butti's plans for TIM needs to be extensively discussed within the government.

☆ Telecom Italia CEO sticks to turnaround plan as govt weighs alternatives
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Unveiled in July, TIM Chief Executive Pietro Labriola's plan is mostly based on a potential multi-billion euro sale of its fixed network infrastructure to state lender CDP. Alessio Butti, responsible for telecoms policies in Meloni's Brothers of Italy party, has criticized TIM's plan to sell its landline grid. Sponsored by the previous government of Prime Minister Mario Draghi, the single network project is now being reviewed by the centre-right government that took office last month. Newly-appointed cabinet undersecretary Butti on Saturday said he would start talks with state lender CDP, TIM and other stakeholders over his plan, reigniting speculation of a government-sponsored takeover. Under the Minerva project, TIM would retain the network while hiving off its services operations and its Brazil-listed unit.

☆ Factbox: Companies potentially affected by Italy's election
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

A woman walks at a polling station during the snap election in Rome, Italy September 25, 2022. read moreHere is a list of companies that could be affected by the outcome of the election. The change of government and calls by Meloni to revisit Italy's national recovery plan could threaten Italy's ability to meet the commitments to which European Union post-pandemic funds are tied. Brothers of Italy welcomed CDP's decision to wait for the election before filing its non-binding bid for TIM's network. read moreBrothers of Italy has called for the new government to be allowed to make a final decision on ITA.

Search resuls for: "Pietro Labriola's"

20 mentions found