Telecom Italia reports record loss, plans to split into two

Telecom Italia (TIM), the target of a 10.8 billion euro ($12 billion) takeover approach from U.S. fund KKR, said on Wednesday it planned to split into two business under a standalone plan developed by its new chief executive.

The former phone monopoly also said an assessment by its advisors on KKR’s approach would be finalised shortly and the board would then decide on it.

TIM, in which France’s Vivendi is the largest shareholder, must decide whether to pursue the KKR approach first made in November or follow the three-year plan being developed by new CEO Pietro Labriola.

Labriola is proposing to split the company between network and services operations in his plan to unlock value.

“I am convinced that the evolution we have planned for the group is a positive break with the past,” he said in a statement.

“We are playing a front-runner role in the telco sector and expect others to follow our example,” he added.

Financial results also published on Wednesday showed the problems facing Italy’s biggest telecoms group.

It plunged to a net loss of 8.7 billion euros ($9.7 billion) in 2021 after a 4.1 billion euro impairment of domestic goodwill and a 3.8 billion euro write off of a tax benefit.

Under pressure for years from stiff competition in its core domestic market, TIM also said it would scrap dividends.

TIM said it was in talks to sell its indirect stake in telecoms towers group INWIT after it received a binding offer from a consortium led by private equity fund Ardian.

Under the deal, debt-laden TIM would raise some 1.3 billion euros and would keep a small indirect stake in INWIT, along with some governance rights, a source familiar with the matter said. Reuters