(AOF) – Vivendi indicated in a press release that it “deeply regrets that the Board of Directors of Telecom Italia accepted KKR’s offer for the acquisition of the TIM network, without having previously informed and requested the vote of the shareholders of Telecom Italia, thereby violating applicable governance rules.” The firm offer values the telecoms network (excluding Sparkle, its submarine cables unit) at 18.8 billion euros in enterprise value, the Italian operator said.
This amount does not take into account “the advantages linked to the potential transfer of part of the debt to NetCo and the price supplements linked to the fulfillment of certain conditions likely to increase the value up to 22 billion euros” .
The offer is well below the expectations of Vivendi, TIM’s largest shareholder with 23.75% of the capital, which was counting on 31 billion euros, according to Reuters.
Vivendi emphasizes that its “justified requests”, “expressed through multiple communications to the Board of Directors, to the company’s auditors and to Consob (Italian Financial Market Supervisory Authority), intended to protect all shareholders and to prevent such a harmful situation, have been totally ignored”.
The French group adds that “the Board of Directors of Telecom Italia has thus deprived each shareholder of the right to express their opinion at a meeting, as well as the associated right of withdrawal for shareholders in disagreement”.
Vivendi believes that “the decision adopted today by the Board of Directors of Telecom Italia is illegal and entails the responsibility of the directors of TIM who voted in favor of the operation”.
Vivendi specifies that it “will use all legal means at its disposal to contest this decision and protect its rights as well as those of all shareholders”.
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