Telecom Italia (TIM), Italy's largest telecommunications company, has approved the sale of its fixed network NetCo, including FiberCop, to Optics BidCo, a KKR company, becoming the first-ever telecoms group in a major European country to part ways with its landline grid.
The agreement, supported by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's conservative government, involves an asset that Italy considers to be of national strategic importance as it works to close the digital divide with the rest of the European Union.
The €22 billion offer will allow TIM to reduce its debt by approximately €14 billion. The transaction is expected to be completed by the summer of 2024. The sale will also include a non-binding offer on TIM's entire Sparkle stake.
"Two years of hard work ... culminate into a historic decision: creating two companies with new growth prospect," TIM CEO Pietro Labriola said in a statement.
This sale is part of TIM's 2022 delayering plan, which aims to overcome TIM's vertical integration by separating its fixed network infrastructure assets from the services that TIM will continue to provide to its retail clients. This allows TIM to function in its domestic market while benefiting from the reduction of several regulatory constraints.
