Telecom Italia gives green light to KKR’s grid bid, sources say

MILAN (Reuters) – Telecom Italia (BIT:) (TIM) directors on Sunday gave a go-ahead to a multibillion euro sale of the telecoms group’s prized domestic fixed-line access grid to U.S. fund KKR, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

Backed by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s conservative administration, the deal is a key plank of TIM CEO Pietro Labriola’s plan to revive the debt-laden, junk-rated former phone monopoly.

The board started a review of the offer on Friday, convening again on Sunday to deliberate, with 11 out of 14 directors who attended the meeting voting in favour of KKR’s proposal, the sources said.

Telecom Italia declined to comment.

Based on TIM’s final review of KKR’s offer, the proposal values TIM’s fixed line at 22 billion euros ($24 billion) when including some future payments were a long-awaited combination of TIM’s grid with that of state-backed fibre optic rival Open Fiber materialise.

($1 = 0.9321 euros)