Egyptian tycoon Naguib Sawiris has reportedly been rebuffed by Telco shareholders in his latest attempt to acquire a stake in Telecom Italia (TI).
Sawiris made an initial approach last week to the three Italian financial organisations which recently…
Egyptian tycoon Naguib Sawiris has reportedly been rebuffed by Telco shareholders in his latest attempt to acquire a stake in Telecom Italia (TI).
Sawiris made an initial approach last week to the three Italian financial organisations which recently decided to break up Telco, TI’s largest shareholder, but met with a negative response, Italian news agency Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor reported.
Telefonica and the three Italian companies – insurer Generali and banks Intesa Sanpaolo and Mediobanca – were not immediately available for comment. A spokesperson for Sawiris has declined to comment.
Sawiris has previously said he would be interested in acquiring a stake in the Italian incumbent if Spain’s Telefonica, the new largest shareholder, exits.
The TI board has, in the past, turned down approaches from both Sawiris and Hong Kong-based conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa.
The Telco board formally approved the demerger of Telco late last month, writing down its 22.4% stake by €850.5m (US$1.1bn). The unravelling of the seven-year pact leaves Telefonica with a 14.77% direct stake in TI and the three banks with holdings of less than 5% each.
Telefonica has been under pressure from Brazilian antitrust regulator Cade to reduce its influence in the local mobile market, where it and TI are invested in the two largest mobile operators, Vivo and TIM Brasil. Cade has told Telefonica to either reduce its stake in TI or find a new partner to take joint control of Vivo. The Spanish telco has said it will challenge the regulator in court.
The regulatory issues have prompted speculation that Telefonica may now seek to exit TI. Last Friday, an unsourced report in Brazilian newspaper Folha de S Paulo stated that Telefonica is in talks with investment funds to sell its stake in the Milan-based telco. The following day, a report in Italian paper Corriere della Sera, also unsourced, said Brazilian bank BTG Pactual could be negotiating the purchase of Telefonica’s stake. The bank was not immediately available for comment.
