News
Italian energy utility tables 806 million bid for fibre firm, but will likely raise bid to match incumbent’s offer, sources say.
Enel on Thursday submitted a formal offer worth €806 million for Italian fibre network operator Metroweb, putting itself in direct competition with Telecom Italia which has also tabled a bid, people familiar with the situation said.
The information came from three unnamed sources cited by Reuters, one of whom added that Enel will eventually be asked to raise its bid to €820 million to match what Telecom Italia is willing to pay.
Last week the newswire reported that Telecom Italia had submitted an all-cash offer that values Metroweb at more than €820 million. It added that the incumbent is willing to buy Metroweb in its entirety, or a 67.7% stake.
According to the latest report, Enel is the preferred bidder for Metroweb and will likely be willing to increase its offer as requested. Its bid is likely to be part cash and part stock.
Telecom Italia has been linked with Metroweb a number of times over the past 18 months or so, but has thus far failed to broker a deal.
Should Enel emerge victorious, the pressure it is already exerting on the Italian incumbent will increase.
The utility company is working on a plan to roll out its own fibre network in Italy in competition with Telecom Italia. Last month it revealed that phase one of the project will see it deploy infrastructure alongside the electricity network in 10 cities, the first five being Perugia, Cagliari, Bari, Venice and Catania.
There has been talk of hefty job cuts at Telecom Italia as a result of the emergence of Enel as a new network rival.
