Formal bidding for Italian IT services group Eutelia is to start tomorrow, 13 July, with an RFP and NDA for data room access now available on the company’s website.
Expected bidders are Cloud Italia and Tiscali, while mobile operators Wind and…
Formal bidding for Italian IT services group Eutelia is to start tomorrow, 13 July, with an RFP and NDA for data room access now available on the company’s website.
Expected bidders are Cloud Italia and Tiscali, while mobile operators Wind and Vodafone could also participate, TelecomFinance understands.
Binding bids will be due September 20.
Cloud Italia, whose founder Mark De Simone, former head of Cisco MEA and MD at cloud platform as a service group Cordys, in March told TelecomFinance of his plans to transform the company into a SME-focused networked cloud provider, will certainly bid. He explained that Cloud Italia had already recruited partners, including private equity firm J Hirsch, which notably plans to hire Francesco Caio, currently a vice-chairman at Nomura and the former head of Cable and Wireless, as a consultant in the case of a successful bid for Eutelia’s assets.
Unicredit has come on board as a lender, with other partners including software distributor IT Way, system integrator CBT and industrial partner Finmeccanica, which would wholesale cloud services to enterprise customers.
The new company reportedly requires some E100m in investment for the takeover.
By 2015, Cloud Italia expects that in combination with Eutelia it would achieve a turnover of E238m, 30% of which would come from cloud computing, according to local press.
TelecomFinance has separately learned that Italian ISP Tiscali has formally expressed its own interest.
Eutelia went into receivership a year ago after a series of acquisitions by former owners the Landi family.
The sale is being managed by the Italian government, which has yet to appoint an adviser. A decision is expected in the next week or so, TelecomFinance understands.
KPMG, however, is the technical adviser for the data room, which will be open from tomorrow.
Italy’s equivalent of Chapter 11 allows companies to sell their good assets while keeping the bad part of the company in a liquidation process – cleared of debt, the good part of the company – in this case, Eutelia, can form the basis of a new business. Agile, the bad part, is being sold separately.
Bidders must demonstrate that they will keep the company’s headquarters in Arezzo, retain all staff, have a credible business plan and a credible management team.
According to a report in the Italian press, Eutelia closed 2010 with revenue of some E138m and an EBITDA of E5m.
This year, it expects to turn over about E100m, with an EBITDA of E2m, about half of what it achieved in 2009.
The company, which boasts a fibre optic backbone, reportedly reaps 35% of its earnings from wholesale, 32% from retail, 28% from prepaid overseas calling cards and 8% from premium services.
