Incumbent Telecom Italia (TI) will not close the sale of its tower portfolio by the end of this year as initially expected, CEO Marco Patuano reportedly said.
At the end of July, local media reports suggested that the company was looking to launch the…
Incumbent Telecom Italia (TI) will not close the sale of its tower portfolio by the end of this year as initially expected, CEO Marco Patuano reportedly said.
At the end of July, local media reports suggested that the company was looking to launch the sale process for its 8,000 mobile telecoms towers in September.
But today, during an event in Capri, the CEO was quoted by Reuters as saying that a deal will not complete in 2014, adding that the company is currently evaluating two options.
Earlier reports had said that instead of selling the towers outright, TI management was looking to spin off the tower assets, worth an estimated €1bn (US$1.34bn), before listing them on the stock exchange.
Italian towerco EI Towers and infrastructure fund F2i as well as Spain’s Abertis and American Tower have been reported as potential bidders.
The proceeds from the tower sale, which is part of a plan announced by Patuano last November aimed at reducing TI’s €27.4bn debt, would be used to upgrade domestic networks.
During the same event, Patuano said that the company is not studying any capital increase, including issues dedicated to new investors.
