Poste Italiane has gained control of TIMarriving at85.82% of the capital at the end of the second and final phase of the public purchase and exchange offer (OPAS). The data is still provisional and will have to be confirmed by the definitive results, expected on October 1st.
Poste started with a stake of around 20.10% in TIM and, through the offering, gathered support for a further one 65.72% of capital. Overall, the group now holds approx 1.83 billion TIM sharesequal to 85.822%.
However, the operation did not allow Poste to reach the threshold of 90%a level that would have made it possible to directly exercise the right to purchase the remaining shares and to start the joint procedure aimed at quickly reaching 100% of the capital, also facilitating the delisting of TIMi.e. the company’s exit from the stock exchange.
However, failure to reach 90% does not prevent Poste from taking control of the telephone company. The participation obtained is in fact largely sufficient to exercise control and proceed with the integration project between the two groups.
The offer envisaged, for each TIM share awarded, 0.218 newly issued ordinary shares of Poste Italiane and 1.97 euros in cash. The monetary component was initially set at 1.67 euros, but at the beginning of September Poste increased it by 30 cents, bringing it to 1.97 euros, with the aim of making the offer more attractive.
On the same occasion, Poste had also waived the previous condition which required the achievement of at least 66.7% of the capital so that the operation could be successful. The payment of the TIM shares delivered during the reopening of the deadlines is scheduled for October 2.
The acquisition is part of an expansion strategy which in recent years has transformed Poste Italiane into a group active in numerous sectors in addition to postal and shipping. In fact, more than half of the revenues come from financial and insurance serviceswhile the group also operates in energy, digital payments and mobile telephony through PosteMobile.
The telecommunications sector itself represents one of the areas in which integration with TIM could generate operational synergies. In fact, PosteMobile does not have its own antenna network and in fact, since February, PosteMobile has begun to progressively transfer its customers from the Vodafone to that of TIM. At the same time, some offers are also marketed in TIM stores post office electricity and gas.
