Italian state-owned towerco Rai Way has reportedly dismissed mounting speculation that it could launch a counter-offer for Mediaset-controlled rival EI Towers.
However, during a recent shareholders meeting, Rai Way president Camillo Rossotto and CEO…
Italian state-owned towerco Rai Way has reportedly dismissed mounting speculation that it could launch a counter-offer for Mediaset-controlled rival EI Towers.
However, 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 in April, EI Towers, which is 40% owned by former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi’s Elettronica Industriale, itself a subsidiary of the Mediaset group, dropped plans to buy Rai Way amid political opposition to the deal.
EI Towers initially launched an offer for a 66.67% stake in Rai Way, but later abandoned the deal even after cutting its minimum stake threshold to 40% to secure regulatory approval, following opposition from the government, regulators and Rai.
Mulls Inwit, Cellnex tie-up
Rossotto and Ciccotti were also cited saying they were assessing opportunities in the telecom tower segment, hinting at potential synergies with incumbent telco 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 to €3.2bn (US$3.56bn). Cellnex comprises 15,170 sites, including 7,377 towers acquired from Italian mobile operator Wind Telecomunicazioni in early March.
Market observers had earlier told SatelliteFinance that both Rai Way and EI Towers were likely to turn their attention to Inwit after the collapse of a merger agreement between the two.
As well as well as terrestrial and fibre networks, Rai Way provides a free satellite platform called tivùsat that uses Eutelsat Hot Bird 9 at 13E.