MILAN (Reuters) – Investment fund Merlyn Partners, a shareholder in Telecom Italia, suggested on Wednesday that the heavily indebted telecommunications group would sell its Brazilian subsidiary later this year as part of a broad restructuring.
The Luxembourg-based investment fund, which held 0.53% of Telecom Italia (TIM) on Tuesday, also recommended in a press release the sale by the Italian group of its consumer business, with the aim of concluding this transaction in 2025 .
Telecom Italia is already engaged in a reorganization which provides for the sale during the year of its fixed telephone network to the American fund KKR.
The operation, worth 22 billion euros, and supported by the Italian government, however faces opposition from TIM’s main shareholder, Vivendi, which questions the viability of the group’s remaining activity.
In its press release, Merlyn Partners hoped that the transaction with KKR would be finalized “as soon as possible” and, ideally, by the summer.
TIM had no immediate comment.
The sale of the fixed network is at the center of TIM chief executive Pietro Labriola’s efforts to restructure the debt-ridden group.
Merlyn’s split plans go even further and would leave only “TechCo”, a technology and infrastructure company serving business and government.
Pietro Labriola will seek a second term as chief executive in a shareholder vote next month. Merlyn did not oppose it, but stressed that he would like to see new faces on the board of directors.
“We have a list of candidates to join the board, with international and sector expertise,” the company said.
(Reporting Elvira Pollina, written by Gianluca Semeraro and Keith Weir; French version Stéphanie Hamel, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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