US investment fund KKR Infrastructure is considering a move to increase its stake in the Fibercop fixed-line venture of Telecom Italia (TIM), according to three unnamed sources cited by Reuters. The venture is 58 percent owned by TIM, 37.5 percent by KKR Infrastructure and 4.5 percent by Fastweb, with Tiscali also on board as a strategic partner. KKR is prepared to play a leading role in TIM’s asset revamp, hiking its FiberCop stake and pushing for a merger with wholesale rival Open Fiber, said the sources, with one adding that KKR could even invest directly in TIM.
KKR declined to comment on the rumours and a spokesperson for TIM said the company was not contemplating reducing its stake in FiberCop at the moment. However, TIM CEO Luigi Gubitosi is currently under pressure from the operator’s largest investor, Vivendi, which has called for an extraordinary board meeting on 11 November to discuss strategy following the operator's recent profit warnings.
The French media giant has reportedly questioned Gubitosi’s position and is pushing him to reach an agreement with the government over the future of TIM’s landline grid, said the sources. According to a previous report, the CEO has been trying to persuade Vivendi that relinquishing control of a merged FiberCop-Open Fiber entity to state lender CDP was the only way to revive a plan to merge TIM’s fixed line assets with those of Open Fiber, thus overcoming strong political and regulatory resistance to it.
Vivendi has so far opposed TIM ceding control but Gubitosi is now reviewing options for the operator’s assets, including allowing KKR to boost its investment ahead of the arrival of the EU’s post-pandemic recovery funds.
