Italian state-owned towerco Rai Way has dismissed mounting speculation that it could launch a counter-offer for Mediaset-controlled rival EI Towers, according to local reports.During a recent shareholders’ meeting, Rai Way president Camillo Rossotto and…
Italian state-owned towerco Rai Way has dismissed mounting speculation that it could launch a counter-offer for Mediaset-controlled rival EI Towers, according to local reports.
During a recent shareholders’ meeting, Rai Way president Camillo Rossotto and CEO Stefano Ciccotti were quoted saying that the listed tower operator, which is 65.07% owned by state broadcaster Rai, would like to play an active role in the consolidation process of the local tower sector.
Management did not reject the idea of a single tower operator, but pointed out that the creation of an integrated infrastructure provider must be based on a clear business plan which would add value to the company.
“Rai Way’s mission is to become Italy’s leading network infrastructure provider for broadcasters and telecoms operators,” the towerco said in a letter to shareholders.
Earlier this month, EI Towers, which is 40% owned by former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi’s Elettronica Industriale, itself a subsidiary of the Mediaset group, dropped plans to acquire Rai Way amid political opposition to the deal.
EI Towers, which had filed an offer for a 66.67% stake in RaiWay in February, had to abandon its project to create a national network infrastructure player, in spite of reducing the minimum stake threshold for its bid from 66.67% to 40% to secure regulatory approval, due to opposition from the government, regulators and Rai.
Mulls Inwit, Cellnex tie-up
Rossotto and Ciccotti also reportedly said they are assessing opportunities in the telecom tower segment, hinting at potential synergies with Telecom Italia’s tower spin-off Inwit, due to be listed by June with TI retaining a 60% stake. They also said they would meet Spanish infrastructure company Abertis to explore ways to cooperate.
Abertis is in the process of listing its tower spin-off Cellnex Telecom in an IPO valued at up €3.2bn. Cellnex comprises 15,170 sites, including 7,377 towers acquired from Italian mobile operator Wind Telecomunicazioni €693m (US$774.29m) in early March.
Rai Way’s interest in Inwit does not come as a surprise, as earlier this month, market observers had told TelecomFinance that both RaiWay and EI Towers were likely to turn their attention to Inwit after the collapse of a merger agreement between the two.
