Telecom Italia (TIM) has announced the sale of its 10% remaining stake in holding company Daphne 3 (which in turn owns 29.9% of INWIT for EUR 250mn to a consortium (Impulse I) led by private investment firm Ardian.
The agreement is based on a valuation of INWIT share price of EUR10.43 and proceeds from the deal are not included in Telecom Italia’s 2024 guidance. The closing of the transaction is expected to take place in Q4 2024.
Since its initial acquisition in 2020, the Ardian-led consortium has slowly increased its stake ownership in Daphne 3. In end 2022, the consortium bought an additional 41% stake of the holding company for EUR1.3bn reaching 90% ownership in Daphne 3, which at the time owned 30.2% of INWIT.
INWIT, which at present operates 24,300 towers across Italy, mentions Central Tower Holding Company (indirectly owned by Oak Holdings, 1 in turn co-controlled by Vodafone GmbH and OAK Consortium GmbH) as its other shareholder with a 33.2% stake. The remaining towerco shares which total 36.9% is free float.
The towerco was set up in 2015 when TIM carved out its tower portfolio into a dedicated infrastructure unit, INWIT and listed a 40% stake on the Milan Stock Exchange, raising EUR 875.3mn in the process. In July 2019 Vodafone Italy combined its 11,000-tower portfolio with TIM’s INWIT.
The recently announced deal with Daphne 3 is part of TIM’s deleveraging. The telecom group is also considering selling its subsea cable arm Sparkle and is looking to generate around EUR1bn from the transaction. In the beginning of August, TIM CEO Pietro Labriola said he is optimistic over the finalisation of the deals. Earlier in 2024, TIM rejected an offer from the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) worth up to EUR750 mn.
Earlier this year, TIM sold its fixed-line business to the KKR-controlled consortium Optics BidCo for EUR 18.8 bn (US$20.5 bn), excluding potential future payments.
Following the INWIT transaction, Ardian announced on 19th August it will expand its investment portfolio and diversify across real estate asset classes in Europe. The firm has entered the residential property market through the acquisition of a building in a prime location in Madrid totalling 3,000 sq m (32,000 sq ft) from investment manager Patrizia. The latter bought the property for EUR20mn in 2022. Ardian has announced it will transform the space from offices to high-end residential building.
