Poste Italiane Set to Buy Out TIM Shareholders

Poste Italiane opened a tender offer to buy out shareholders of Telecom Italia (TIM). The call comes after the operator’s board endorsed the price and rationale as being fair over the weekend.

TIM’s board gave a unanimous opinion that the offer was acceptable from a financial perspective, as well as positively assessing the rationale and business prospects of the move and its consistency with the path undertaken by TIM. The deal was originally valued at €10.8 billion, but the postal service’s stock price had since risen, which pinned the deal at nearer €13 billion.

Shareholders are being offered €1.67 in cash, and 22% of a newly issued Poste Italiane share for each held in TIM. The sum per share was changed from the initial deal statement due to a reverse stock split at the operator, though Poste Italiane noted that the economic substance of the offer is unchanged.

Poste Italiane’s offer for the shares in TIM it does not already own runs from 20 July until 11 September. The postal provider already owns a 20% stake in the operator. The offer could be briefly reopened after the deadline if specific regulatory terms are met from the initial period.