This post was originally published on Light Reading
Also in today’s EMEA regional roundup: Liberty Global boss unimpressed with EU’s “single European telecom market” dream; FAST forward for ad-supported linear TV; EU’s cloud security plan comes under fire.
Telecom Italia (TIM) has received a non-binding offer from Italian state-backed lender CDP and Australian fund Macquarie Infrastructure for its fixed network infrastructure, including the assets of FiberCop as well as a stake in Sparkle, TIM’s international services unit. The offer comes in the wake of a rival bid from US private equity fund KKR, which was rejected by TIM’s board. CDP and Macquarie already own TIM’s fiber-optic rival Open Fiber. TIM said it plans to discuss the new offer at a board meeting on March 15. (See Telecom Italia hopeful about future as it reveals plans for 2025.)
(Source: Arcansel/Alamy Stock Photo)
The European Commission’s plans for a “single European telecom market” amenable to cross-border consolidation have not impressed the CEO of Liberty Global, Mike Fries. As the Financial Times reports (paywall applies), Fries dismissed the proposals as “a dream that doesn’t reflect reality,” adding that such mergers are “not going to happen.” (See EU bigwigs gibber about M&A and fume about Huawei.)
— Read the rest of this post, which was originally published on Light Reading.
