KKR tables offer for Telecom Italia
November 22, 2021
Telecom Italia (TIM) has received a €10.8 billion offer from US fund KKR aimed at taking Italy’s biggest telco private.
KKR’s move comes as TIM’s CEO Luigi Gubitosi finds himself under grave pressure from top investor Vivendi following two profit warnings in recent months.
TIM said KKR had set an indicative price of €0.505 for its possible buyout offer – a 45.7 per cent premium to the ordinary shares’ closing price on November 19th. KKR would also offer the same price for TIM’s savings shares.
The TIM board, chaired by former Bank of Italy official Salvatore Rossi, met for discussions on November 21st, but in a statement it gave no indication of whether it would accept the bid.
KKR’s indication of interest was described by TIM as “friendly” and aimed at obtaining approval by TIM’s directors and support by TIM’s management.