Telecom Italia (TI) is reportedly considering selling about 12,000 mobile towers as part of broad-sweeping plans to cut debt.
The Italian incumbent, at risk of a debt rating downgrade to junk status, is looking at creating a new company for the towers…
Telecom Italia (TI) is reportedly considering selling about 12,000 mobile towers as part of broad-sweeping plans to cut debt.
The Italian incumbent, at risk of a debt rating downgrade to junk status, is looking at creating a new company for the towers – potentially worth between €500m (US$676m) and €1bn (US$1.35bn) – ahead of selling it, Bloomberg reported citing a source with direct knowledge of the matter.
Telecom Italia, which already plans to spin off its fixed-line network, has declined to comment on the sale rumours.
The Milan-based telco is striving to cut net debt, which stood at €28.8bn as of 30 June, to €27bn by the end of the year. Yesterday evening, TI launched a €1bn (US$1.35bn) seven-year bond offering to help refinance existing debt.
Meanwhile, TI directors reportedly held informal talks yesterday to discuss potential changes to the telco’s overall business strategy and discussed a proposal to divide TI’s domestic consumer and business units into separate companies.
Meanwhile, speculation surrounding imminent changes to the company’s ownership structure continues as the deadline for core Telco shareholders to exit their pact looms. Telco members – Spanish telco Telefonica and Italian financial institutions Assicurazioni Generali and Intesa Sanpaolo – have until 28 September to request early exit from the agreement.
While Telefonica is said to be looking to boost its stake in TI, the Italian institutions are reportedly open to selling their stakes and have been approached by internationally-based investors. Egyptian businessman Naguib Sawiris recently confirmed his interest in taking a stake in TI, while US incumbent AT&T and Carlos Slim’s Mexico based telco America Movil (AMX) have also been named as interested parties. AT&T has declined to comment on the rumours, while AMX CFO Carlos Garcia Morena has denied his company has had contact with TI shareholders.
At the time of writing, TI’s ordinary shares were down 1.78% to €0.58 each.
