News
Telecom Italia’s board asks management to evaluate bids for towers unit from Cellnex/F2i and EI Towers.
Telecom Italia is evaluating two binding offers for its towers business, it revealed late last week.
After months of speculation, the Italian incumbent confirmed that it has received bids for INWIT from a consortium made up of Cellnex and F2i, and EI Towers.
It did not disclose the value of either party’s offer, nor the size of stake involved.
Telecom Italia floated 40% of INWIT last summer and then began the process of selling an additional stake to a strategic investor.
Cellnex/F2i has been widely tipped as the likely frontrunner.
Earlier this month Reuters reported that Cellnex/F2i was planning to table a higher bid than the one it had made previously, offering €5 per share for a 45% stake in the company, valuing it at €3 billion, just ahead of its market valuation at the time.
Should that prove to be the case and should its bid prove successful, Cellnex/F2i would be required to launch a mandatory takeover offer for the business, having exceeded the 30% ownership threshold, the newswire said.
Earlier in the year its sources claim that EI Towers had submitted an offer for just under 30% at around the €5-per-share mark.
There was also talk of American Tower having made an offer, but Telecom Italia made no mention of the U.S.-based company.
"The board of directors has appointed the management to examine and best negotiate the two binding offers received from Cellnex/F2i and EI Towers," the operator said.
The disclosure was made on the same day that Telecom Italia revealed it swung to a €72 million net loss in 2015 from a profit of €1.35 billion in 2014. The telco attributed the loss to bond buybacks carried out during the first half of the year. Absent these buybacks, Telecom Italia would have notched up a net profit of approximately €1.4 billion.
Revenues in the 12 months to 31 December fell 8.6% year-on-year to €19.72 billion. EBITDA fell 20.3% to €7 billion, driven primarily by one-off charges totalling €1.08 billion.
Revenues in Italy edged down to €15 billion from €15.3 billion in 2014, while revenues in Brazil fell to €4.64 billion from €6.24 billion.
