Finance
by Stefania Blasioli
Now that KKR has the EU green light for the purchase of the Telecom network, we are betting on the US fund’s plans to target the other fiber company, an operation that would result in further proceeds for Tim
2′ reading
(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) – The Telecom Italia stock is on the rise in Piazza Affari, positioning itself at the top of the FTSE MIB, with an increase of close to 5%. With the European Commission approving KKR’s acquisition of NetCo, the market is now looking at a future combination of the network company with Open Fiber.
The European antitrust authority, in analyzing the market for wholesale access to the fixed network, has in fact photographed the status quo which sees three competitors in the field (Netco, Open Fiber and Fastweb) and concluded that Netco’s transition to consortium led by KKR does not alter the current competitive situation. As the Intermonte analysts underline, in fact, the green light from Brussels for the sale of NetCo “does not prejudge a possible agreement” with Open Fiber “to which the earnout of up to 2.5 billion euros in favor of Tim’s.” Experts believe that a possible combination or commercial partnership between NetCo and Open Fiber is “viable, given remedies in the black areas where the two networks currently overlap”. The possible sale of excess assets to other infrastructure operators (including Fastweb itself or regional operators such as Unidata and Intred) “would have the double advantage of facilitating the green light from the antitrust authority and of allowing the proponents to crystallize a greater value, collecting the proceeds from the sale of these assets”. As for Open Fiber, a final agreement between the banks and Cdp for the refinancing is expected this week: the banks and the company’s shareholders (Cdp and Macquarie) should secure 3.2 billion in new financing and equity. The banks have requested monthly or quarterly monitoring of the telecommunications company, while the deadline for reaching an agreement is set for June 30th.
View on ilsole24ore.com
