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The news comes just days after the Italian government approved the TIM–KKR transaction
Italian government-backed infrastructure fund F2i has announced that it will invest €1 billion in Telecom Italia (TIM)’s NetCo, acquiring a 10% stake in the newly spun off business. As a result, the company will join US investment firm KKR and the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance as co-investors.
It was first reported back in October that F2i were preparing to raise the funds for an acquisition, which they have now successfully achieved ready for acquisition. The acquisition is expected to be completed mid-2024.
“A modern digital network, which is set to catalyse major investments in the coming years, is key to improving citizens’ lives, business productivity and Italy’s competitiveness,” said F2i CEO Renato Ravanelli in a press release.
“F2i once again confirms its role as a fundamental partner of the most important national infrastructure projects,” he continued. The press release also added that the funding target was reached in such a short amount of time, demonstrating the keen interest in the project from investors, including banking foundations, pension funds, insurance companies and family offices. Specific backers were not announced.
Last week, the Italian government gave the greenlight to KKR’s purchase of NetCo, confirming that the transaction did not breach the ‘golden power’ rules, which are designed to protect Italy’s strategic assets. These powers allow the government to limit or intervene in foreign corporate transactions that involve the country’s strategic assets, such as infrastructure or defence.
The sale of TIM’s submarine cable business, Sparkle, has not yet been approved.
TIM’s decision to sell off its fixed-line network for €28.8 billion was made last year, with the company battling to reduce its debt pile of around €26 billion. TIM’s largest shareholder Vivendi have been vocally disapproving of the deal, believing that TIM’s assets are being undervalued. As such, it is now attempting to challenge the deal, and will use “all legal means at its disposal” to refute the decision, it announced in a press release.
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