(Finance) – The position of is not yet clear Vivendi on the offer presented by the American fund KKR for the net TIMdespite the “interlocutions” recently had with the government. On the occasion of the conference call with analysts for the presentation of the preliminary results of the third quarter, the CFO of the French group, Francois Laroze he clarified that the last word will be Vivendi’s and that the decision will be made at the meeting.
The position of the French
“Vivendi’s position is very clear: it is an important move for the evolution of Tim, the network is a large part of the group”. explained the manager, adding “as the largest shareholders, with over 23% of the voting rights, we want to express our position officially during an assembly of the shareholders or of an extraordinary meeting”.
“I believe that it is Tim’s duty to give all shareholders the opportunity to express their position”, added Laroze, recalling that Vivendi has always maintained that the value of the operation is 30 billion.
About the different shareholdings held by Vivendìincluding that in Mediaset (now MFE), the CFO of the French group explained “we are not in a hurry, we are very pragmaticwe’ll see, it depends on the evolution, on the results month after month, then we’ll decide what to do.”
The offer of the KKR fund
By the deadline of October 15th, TIM has received the binding offer from the American fund KKR For NetCothe company into which the TIM network merged, ed also includes the sale of Sparkle, to international infrastructure services companies. For the latter, however, the Americans have formulated a new non-binding offer which will translate into a binding offer by December 20th, at the end of the due diligence activities.
According to rumors circulating, KKR’s offer for NetCo would have reached a total value of approximately 20 billion euros, plus 3 billion euros as “earn out” linked to future integration with Open Fiber. For Sparkle only 600 million would have been offered. of which 150 million “earn out”.
The government would also have moved with KKR, aiming for a 20% share with an investment of around 2.5 billion and F2i which could enter the game with a 15% stake.
Government ready for any option
There government position meanwhile it seems a bit neutralgiven that on the TIM network there is a public interest. The Minister of Economy clarified this Giancarlo Giorgetti, presenting the Maneuver. “Let’s see the final outcome. Otherwise we will think of something different but we are not backing down”, explained the Economy headliner, recalling that KKR’s offer “respects the interests of the State”.
“The proposal is on the table, but the topic is complex. The decision will be up to the TIM Board of Directors and the assembly“. underlined Goorgetti, adding “I won’t go into these aspects”.
TIM stock plummets
The stock market’s reactions the following day were not the best. The TIM shares lost around 6%, a clear sign that the match is far from over. What has generated discontent is the postponement to December 20th, yet another in an affair that has been dragging on for a long time, and also the valorisation of KKR’s offerwhich did not come much closer to the French’s assessment.