March 22 (Reuters) - Italian majority-state-owned national postal service Poste Italiane said on Sunday it was launching a cash and share offer to buy former phone monopoly Telecom Italia (TIM) for
Italy's Poste launches $12.5 billion cash-and-share bid to buy Telecom Italia
Poste Italiane's Acquisition Offer and Strategic Implications
Overview of the Acquisition Bid
March 22 (Reuters) - Italian majority-state-owned national postal service Poste Italiane said on Sunday it was launching a cash-and-share offer to buy former phone monopoly Telecom Italia (TIM) for 10.8 billion euros ($12.5 billion).
Details of the Offer
Poste, which is already TIM's largest shareholder, said it would offer 0.167 euros in cash as well as 0.0218 newly issued Poste shares for each TIM share tendered - valuing TIM shares at 0.635 euros each, or a 9.01% premium to Friday's closing price.
Strategic Rationale and Benefits
Objectives of the Takeover
Poste said the takeover, aimed at taking TIM private, would provide the group with a mobile and fixed-line telecoms network, a leading position in cloud and data centre infrastructure and the ability to provide secure data handling for the state, in line with European Union efforts to protect the bloc's data sovereignty.
Financial Impact and Synergies
The combined group would have pro forma revenue of 27 billion euros and an operating profit of 5 billion euros with more than 150,000 employees, Poste said in a statement.
Poste said pre-tax benefits from the merger would total 700 million euros a year, of which 500 million euros would come from cost cuts, including lower financing costs.
Shareholding and Timeline
Poste, which owns just over 27% of TIM, said it expects to conclude the transaction by the end of the year, with cost savings materialising within two years and revenue benefits within three.
"Poste expects a positive impact on its earnings per share starting in 2027," the company said.
Additional Information
($1 = 0.8643 euros)
(Reporting by Angela Christy in Bengaluru and Valentina Za and Elvira Pollina in Milan; Editing by Peter Graff and Mark Porter)
