After months of talks, the Italian communications giant TIM announced on Sunday that its board of directors had accepted the KKR investment company’s binding purchase offer.
TIM said in a statement that a majority vote was used to grant clearance. It is assumed under the offer that the transaction will take place by summer 2024.
Antitrust officials in the European Union are investigating the deal.
A non-binding offer for TIM’s underwater cable division Sparkle, was turned down by the board.
Italian state TV says the government would hold a sizeable stake in KKR as part of the agreement. According to Corriere della Sera, the finance ministry would own roughly 20% of the business. The operation will allow TIM to lay off workers and cut almost half of its debt, which stands at around $30 billion ($31.5 billion), according to the Milan Daily.
A TIM statement says that the binding offer values NetCo, or TIM’s fixed network assets minus Sparkle, at 18.8 billion euros, or almost $20 billion.
