MILAN (Reuters) – The head of Italy’s Telecom Italia said his standalone plan would allow all shareholders to benefit from the additional value created, setting it out as an alternative to a 10.8 billion euro ($12 billion) approach from U.S. fund KKR.
New TIM CEO Pietro Labriola said the KKR approach was hedged with a whole series of uncertainties but appeared to be similar to his proposal to split the company into separate network and service businesses.
“If we do it internally the value generated can probably be redistributed among all shareholders, majority and minority,” Labriola told reporters in a call to present 2021 earnings and the company’s new three-year plan.
The former phone monopoly said late on Wednesday that an assessment by its advisors on KKR’s approach would be finalised shortly and the board would then decide on it.
Financial results also published late 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. ($1 = 0.9009 euros)
(Reporting by Elvira Pollina and Valentina Za; Editing by Keith Weir)
