Telecom Italia’s Single Network Plan Open to KKR, CEO Tells Sole

Chiara Remondini and Daniele Lepido, Bloomberg News

A TIM mobile phone shop, operated by Telecom Italia SpA, in Rozzano, Italy, on Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2021. KKR & Co. is setting the stage for a battle of control at Telecom Italia with a 10.8 billion-euro ($12.2 billion) bid pitting the U.S. private-equity fund against France’s Vivendi SE. , Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) --

A plan by Telecom Italia SpA to merge its landline assets with those of state-backed rival Open Fiber SpA is also open to U.S. private equity firm KKR & Co., Chief Executive Officer Pietro Labriola told Il Sole 24 Ore.

KKR has said it’s open to exploring new deals with Telecom Italia after being rebutted this week in efforts for a full takeover of the company. It’s already a key investor in Telecom Italia’s FiberCop fiber unit.

Labriola said “of course” KKR could take part in the new single network company with Telecom Italia and Open Fiber. The agreement “is potentially open to the involvement of third party financial investors” and KKR has already “told us they are interested in other projects,” the CEO said in an interview with the Italian daily on Saturday.

That follows Telecom Italia’s board unanimously ruling on Thursday that it would not grant KKR the due diligence requested by the U.S. firm to go ahead with its 10.8 billion euro ($11.8 billion) takeover proposal.

Labriola reiterated in the interview that the company plans to define a proposal for the spin-off of a single fiber network by the summer, adding that the new business plan will be presented at a Capital Markets Day before first-half results at the end of July.

Read More: Telecom Italia Grid Spinoff Feasibility to Be Defined by Summer

Separately, Telecom Italia said in a statement on Saturday that it appointed Eugenio Santagata as its chief public affairs & security officer, reporting directly to the CEO. Santagata has “an extensive and significant experience” in the defence sector and has dealt with private sector cyber security and security systems for over 15 years.