According to a Wednesday report in the Il Messaggero newspaper, the Australian fund Macquarie and the Italian state lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) are planning a counter-offer for the network assets of Telecom Italia (TIM) valued at roughly 20 billion euros ($21.46 billion).
The action would be in response to a similar offer made last week by the American investment firm KKR (KKR.N), which is thought to be valued roughly 20 billion euros, for the Telecom Italia (TIM) unit.
According to Il Messaggero, Macquarie would contribute 40% of the bid, with CDP contributing 60%. According to the article, Credit Suisse (CSAG.UL), BofA Merrill Lynch, and the legal team at BonelliErede assisted in the preparation of the bid.
The newspaper also reported that Italian Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti met with CDP Chief Executive Dario Scannapieco to discuss a move that would support the government’s goal of putting TIM’s network under public control.
Reuters was informed on Tuesday by individuals close to the situation that CDP was speaking with banks to assist finance its offer for the grid assets of TIM, but one source suggested that CDP was more likely to launch a bid alongside Macquarie alone.
After France’s Vivendi (VIV.PA), CDP is TIM’s second-largest shareholder, but it also owns Open Fiber, which has a competing fiber optic network architecture that would be amalgamated with TIM’s holdings.
Macquarie has been working on a strategy to connect the two network infrastructures for months and is already a modest investment in Open Fiber.
TIM CEO Pietro Labriola’s plan to reduce the group’s 25.5 billion euro debt load and finance urgently required investments to modernize its infrastructure from copper to fiber is focused on carving out and giving up ownership of TIM’s coveted landline.
($1 = 0.9319 euros)