MILAN/ROME: Italy's sovereign wealth fund is manoeuvring to pull off a multibillion-euro telecoms merger and end a prolonged corporate stalemate that has held up Rome's plans to create a national broadband network, sources say.
No final solution has been found, but all options under scrutiny involve merging TIM and Open Fiber network assets in a share-based transaction that would lift CDP's stake in TIM close to or more than Vivendi's 23.9per cent, the sources said. That could give CDP a decisive vote over TIM strategy and put it in the strongest position to advance a government plan to rapidly develop a national broadband network. Enel, CDP, Vivendi and TIM all declined to comment.
The details have yet to be hammered out, but in the end the assets of both networks could be put under one roof outside TIM, perhaps under Open Fiber itself, with TIM emerging with only a minority stake in it, the sources and banker said. A unified and regulated broadband network could be an attractive proposition for private investors, offering steady and predictable returns.Enel has right of first refusal over CDP's stake in Open Fiber and can in theory derail CDP's plans by exercising it. In practice, though, Enel will go along with Rome's plan, said another source familiar with the matter.
Analysts say that only a neutral network, where TIM would not have an incentive to limit competition from rival services, has the best chance of delivering the content and pricing needed to spur more Italians to go digital. In 2017, Italy had the lowest internet usage in western Europe alongside Greece, a problem that is holding back the development of a big digital economy deserving of a G7 economy with a population of around 60 million people.
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