By Elvira Pollina
MILAN (Reuters) – Vivendi, Telecom Italia’s (TIM) top investor, is asking the EU antitrust regulator to look into the role played by the Italian Treasury in a planned buyout of the former phone monopoly’s network assets, the company said in a letter.
TIM agreed in November to sell its prized landline grid to U.S. fund KKR in a landmark deal, worth up to 22 billion euros ($23.8 billion), aimed at slashing TIM’s debt and staff.
In the Jan. 18 letter to the EU Directorate General for Competition, seen by Reuters on Tuesday, Vivendi called on the European Commission to pay “attention to the role and involvement of the Ministry of Economy in the concentration”.
“Despite the relevance of the Treasury involvement in the transaction for the Commission’s competition assessment, Vivendi is concerned … that the notification may fail to properly disclose it or may downplay it,” the letter said.
The deal is supported by the Italian government, which authorised the Treasury to take a stake of up to 20% in the network company as part of an agreement with KKR.
Italian state lender CDP, which is controlled by the Treasury, is also TIM’s second largest investor.
A Vivendi spokesperson declined to comment on the letter but reiterated that the company will appeal to all venues to assert its rights and its role as the largest shareholder. Vivendi has challenged the deal in an Italian court in December.
TIM, KKR and the Treasury declined to comment. The EU Commission did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
TIM expects to finalise the deal, which requires EU antitrust approval, by the middle of the year.
KKR plans to notify the European Union’s antitrust authorities by the end of January of its plans to buy Telecom Italia’s network assets, sources told Reuters earlier this month.
Vivendi has been seeking a higher price for the asset, and has questioned the sustainability of the business left behind.
($1 = 0.9233 euros)
(Reporting by Elvira Pollina and Giuseppe Fonte; Editing by Keith Weir and Richard Chang)
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