Italian incumbent Telecom Italia (TI) has received a request from US investment fund Fintech to extend the deadline for the US$960m sale of its Argentine operations. TI will discuss Fintech’s proposal at today’s board meeting, it said in a…
Italian incumbent Telecom Italia (TI) has received a request from US investment fund Fintech to extend the deadline for the US$960m sale of its Argentine operations.
TI will discuss Fintech’s proposal at today’s board meeting, it said in a statement.
The company’s management board was due to meet yesterday to discuss the status of the Telecom Argentina sale to Fintech, the investment vehicle of Mexican billionaire David Martinez, but the meeting was postponed by a day.
TI agreed to sell its 22.7% stake in the Argentine operator almost a year ago, but the local regulator has not yet decided whether to approve the deal.
Earlier this month, the company reportedly said the sale, whose deadline has already been extended twice, could not be put off indefinitely and that if Argentina did not approve it by 25 September, TI management would reconsider its plans.
Meanwhile, Sol Trujillo, the former CEO of Australian telco Telstra, is reportedly looking to raise €7.5bn (US$9.6bn) to acquire a stake in the Italian operator, which has a market cap of US$17.55bn.
Trujillo, who in 2012 carried out a failed attempt at taking over T-Mobile US, has discussed the potential bid with New-York based financial advisers but has yet to approach TI about it, according to a Bloomberg report.
The newswire also said that senior Italian officials, including junior minister for economic development Antonello Giacomelli, have held confidential meetings over the project since May and the government is rumoured to be “open” to the idea of a foreign investor in TI.
But on Friday, Reuters quoted Giacomelli as saying that he was not aware of Trujillo’s plans, adding that the Italian government would use its special powers to defend the company if required.
In recent years, TI has been targeted by a number of overseas investors, including Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing, AT&T, Carlos Slim’s America Movil and Egyptian tycoon Naguib Sawiris.
Today, Khaled Bishara, the chairman of Sawiris-controlled Internet company Italiaonline was quoted by Reuters as saying that the Egyptian billionaire is still interested in TI.
Bishara reportedly added that, as far as he was aware, Sawiris had not been approached by Trujillo to discuss a potential joint bid for TI.
