Poste Raises Stake in Telecom Italia to Become Biggest Holder

(Bloomberg) — Italy’s state-run postal service raised its stake in Telecom Italia SpA to almost 25%, overtaking Vivendi SE as the phone carrier’s biggest investor and ending the French media conglomerate’s decade-long tenure at the Italian company. 

Poste Italiane, which has owned about 10% of Telecom Italia, purchased an additional holding of 15% from Vivendi for €684 million ($684 million), or €0.2975 per share, according to a statement on Saturday. The deal allows Poste to stay below a threshold that would trigger a mandatory takeover offer under Italian regulations. The deal completion is expected in the first half of this year, the statement added.

“The transaction represents a strategic investment for Poste Italiane, carried out with the aim of playing the role of long-term industrial shareholder, generating synergies between Poste Italiane and Telecom Italia,” Poste said. 

The move gives Poste, which has expanded into financial and logistics services, a role 

as a bulwark against further foreign control of Italy’s phone industry. Telecom Italia has recently emerged as a possible target as it slashed debt following the up to €22 billion sale of its landline network to KKR & Co. last year.

The announcement confirms an earlier Bloomberg News report.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni last month backed a stake swap that allowed Poste to take over a 9.8% holding in Telecom Italia from state lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti SpA. CDP, in turn, received Poste’s 3.8% stake in payments specialist Nexi SpA.

Since coming to power in 2022, Meloni’s right-wing government has kept a close eye on companies it considers “national champions.” That’s translated into efforts to ward off foreign purchases of Italian assets, whether by rounding up local investors or resorting to the “golden power” provision, which allows the state to block takeovers of strategic assets in some cases.

The administration sees Poste as a natural fit for Telecom Italia, given the postal operator already runs the country’s largest mobile virtual network operator.

In addition to its traditional businesses of running Italy’s mail service and offering savings accounts, Poste has diversified into energy, insurance and telecommunications. It has about 120,000 employees and some 13,000 locations across the country. Last year, Poste reported sales of €12.6 billion and net profit exceeding €2 billion.

While Vivendi had been Telecom Italia’s largest shareholder for a decade, its holdings in the company have been shrinking for years. Vivendi agreed to an initial stake in Telecom Italia as part of a 2014 deal to sell its Brazilian broadband business GVT to Spain’s Telefonica SA, then an investor in Telecom Italia. 

(Updates to include context about Giorgia Meloni’s administration throughout.)

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