TIM steps closer to state ownership via Poste Italiane takeover

　　Telecom Italia's board backs state-owned Poste Italiane's bid to gain control of the company, which would reportedly value it at over €13 billion, but the purchase is not yet a done deal.

　　Telecom Italia (TIM) is one step closer to becoming majority state-owned once more, nearly 30 years after being privatized in 1997. Over the weekend, its board unanimously accepted a voluntary public offer by Poste Italiane, which would give it control of the company.

　　Poste Italiane is 65% owned by government institutions, split between Cassa Depositi e Prestiti and the Ministry of Economy and Finance. It is the biggest shareholder in TIM with 27.32%. Poste Italiane's offer to acquire remaining shares in the company went live today and will close on September 11.

　　If accepted by shareholders, the bid could be worth over €13 billion (US$14.9 billion) based on current share price, the Financial Times reported, up from the initial €10.8 billion ($12.3 billion).

　　While ambitious, the acquisition is not a done deal, according to Dario Talmesio, research director, service provider strategy and regulation at Omdia.

　　"Poste's plan is to create an integrated digital, telecom, financial sovereign operator. It's a very ambitious plan and TIM's board decision is an important step towards such vision. But to be able to implement an industrial plan of such a deep scope, Poste needs to take the company private and to do that they need to have shareholders onboard," Talmesio told Light Reading via email.

　　"The process is expected to end by mid-September, and if successful we can expect to see a brand-new industrial plan before too long. By then, it will be a state-owned and operated company," he added.

　　Italian publication Il Sole 24 Ore reported in March that participation in the offer would have to reach 66.7% to give Poste Italiane control over TIM.

　　Better together

　　"Combining makes sense as both companies have strong positions in complementary sectors. They can build scale and synergies by leveraging their strong brands, extensive assets, wide retail footprint, and vast workforce. This could also see a push into new markets, building on the launch of an energy product, TIM Energia Luce e Gas, late last year," FDM CCS Insight analyst Kester Mann told Light Reading via email.

　　He notes, however, that the transaction wouldn't necessarily be smooth sailing. "While scale and customer relationships bring an obvious advantage, merging two decades-old organisations is a challenging task, with difficult decisions needed in areas like product positioning, branding, staffing, and go-to-market."

　　The Italian incumbent has seen its fair share of drama in recent years. As Light Reading wrote previously, the company has fallen from grace since its heyday, having once been worth over €100 billion ($114.3 billion). Between 2012, when its fortunes had already diminished, and 2025, its sales halved and headcount shrunk to less than a third. It also amassed a heavy debt burden that forced it to divest assets.

　　The deal would close a "turbulent recent period for TIM," Mann notes. "For years, it was the subject of intense ownership battles involving French media company, Vivendi, and in 2024, following a lengthy and often acrimonious process, it finally sold its Italian fixed-line network businesses (NetCo) to a consortium led by private equity giant KKR. Now, we will see TIM return to state ownership, close to 30 years after it was privatised," he wrote, also noting the deal would be a rare example of an MVNO acquiring its host network.

　　The deal would mark yet another significant acquisition for Europe's telecom market, following for example the merger between Vodafone and Three in the UK, and SFR's carve-up by the remaining three French MNOs – assuming it is approved by the regulator.