Spanish towerco Cellnex in consortium with Italian infrastructure fund F2i has made the best offer “in theory” for Telecom Italia’s (TIM) tower spinoff Inwit, according to Inwit CEO Oscar Cicchetti. Speaking at a meeting with shareholders, Cicchetti said a deal with Cellnex would bring greater synergies as it has more towers, Italian media reported.
Spanish towerco Cellnex (BME:CLNX) in consortium with Italian infrastructure fund F2i has made the best offer “in theory” for Telecom Italia’s (TIM) (BIT:TIT) tower spinoff Inwit (BIT:INW), according to Inwit CEO Oscar Cicchetti.
Speaking at a meeting with shareholders, Cicchetti said a deal with Cellnex would bring greater synergies as it has more towers, Italian media reported. Cellnex’ 8,000 towers combined with Inwit’s 11,000 would bring more opportunities for synergies than the approximate 1,000 telecoms towers belonging to rival suitor, local towerco EI Towers, he noted.
However, Cicchetti said that, while a sale to a buyer with a larger tower portfolio is better in principle, other factors such as the terms of Cellnex’s contracts with operators are also key.
TIM had been expected to select a bidder to enter into exclusive talks on the potential sale of a stake in Inwit at a board meeting in mid-March. However, after the meeting, the company said no decision had been made and that the board had mandated management to examine the binding offers received from Cellnex-F2i and EI Towers.
Cellnex-F2i has reportedly offered €4.50 per share for a 45% stake in Inwit, while EI Towers, controlled by broadcaster Mediaset, has offered €5 per share for a 29.9% stake.
If a buyer acquires a 45% stake, it would be required by law to launch a mandatory takeover of the rest of the stock, meaning TIM could raise some €3bn (US$3.4bn) from the sale. EI Towers’ offer, on the other hand, would imply a deal value of about €200m (US$226m).
Cellnex, spun out from Abertis Infraestructuras and li
TIM and Inwit were not immediately available for comment.