Telecom Italia (TIM) directors were locked in talks on Monday over a plan to reorganise Italy’s biggest telecoms group, as newly appointed chief executive Pietro Labriola attempts to forge an alternative to a takeover by US fund KKR.
Labriola has reunited for the task with a former colleague at TIM’s Brazilian subsidiary with the selection of Adrian Calaza as its new chief financial officer, two sources close to the matter said on Monday.
The meeting of TIM’s board began at around 1300 GMT to discuss Lariola’s standalone plan in response to KKR’s 10.8 billion euro ($12.2 billion) approach, which top shareholder, French media company Vivendi, has said is too low.
Calaza will take over the role from current TIM CFO Giovanni Ronca on March 1, the sources told Reuters, adding that a formal announcement was expected later in the day.
Labriola also worked for the Brazilian arm before last month becoming CEO of the debt-laden former Italian phone monopoly.
TIM is considering splitting its domestic business into an infrastructure entity and a separate service arm, looking to unlock value and facilitate a long-mooted merger with state-backed rival Open Fiber.
Such a move has been advocated by Italian state lender CDP, which controls Open Fiber and is Telecom Italia’s second-largest investor. Under Labriola’s plan, which has yet to be finalised and would be presented to investors on March 3, sources have said a so-called NetCo would include all of TIM’s fibre and copper network infrastructure and submarine cable unit Sparkle.
Sources have previously said it was unlikely TIM would take any firm stance on the KKR proposal before early March.
The network company would assume a significant part of Telecom Italia’s net debt and most of the group’s 42,500 domestic staff, sources familiar with the matter said.
The service company would focus on selling a large portfolio of products, from connectivity to cloud, to different groups such as consumers, SMEs and big corporate and public administration clients, and would include TIM’s Brazilian operations, the same sources said.
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