He Ministry of Economy and Financeof Italy may take up to 20% of the capital of Netco, the company that groups the fixed network assets of Telecom Italia (TIM) and its submarine cable unit, after the memorandum of understanding signed with KKR, which negotiates exclusively with the operator on the purchase of the business.
The agreement between KKR and the Ministry of Economy and Financesigned this Thursday night and collected by Europa Pressprovides for the formulation of a binding offer that establishes, among other things, the entry of the Ministry to Netco “in a percentage of up to 20%.”
Also, the Ministry points out that the terms of the offer from the point of view of the relations between the parties “provide a decisive role for the Government” in the definition of the strategic options.
At the end of last June, Telecom Italia (TIM) announced exclusive negotiations with the fund KKR regarding the sale of Netco, the company that groups its fixed network assets and its participation in the submarine cable business (FiberCop and Sparkle).
In this sense, these exclusive negotiations must end before September 30, although KKR must overcome the reluctance of the largest shareholder of TIMthe French Vivendiwhich would value the business for sale at about 30,000 million, when the US fund’s proposal would be around 23,000 million, according to the Italian press.