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A major European media player is very interested in acquiring listed media group Telecom Italia Media, should Telecom Italia decide to put it on the market, a source on the bidder side said.
The source declined to identify the buyer but said the group is not News Corp unit BSkyB -- which cannot acquire TI Media for its La 7 television group for regulatory and antitrust reasons. The source also said the potential buyer is not an Italian group such as RCS, De Agostini or L’Espresso. Yesterday, an RCS spokesman denied that the company would be interested in La 7 or TI Media.
The listed TV and web content producer is 69% owned by Telecom Italia. Any decision to sell TI Media would likely not come until after a Telefonica-led consortium seeking control of TI has gained regulatory approval in Brazil and Argentina, and taken control at TI and installed new management there, said a sector source.
The expected timetable for this was a regulatory decision in the next two weeks or sometime in late September/early October, he said. However, there was little visibility on the regulatory decisions and the sector source and local regulatory sources said it could be more complicated than expected, owing to Telefonica’s large position in Latin America.
A second source, not involved in the situation but with knowledge of the media sector, said he heard about a European player interested in TI Media. However, he added that any acquisition would be difficult as the Telecom Italia asset is not considered as an attractive target due to the high losses accumulated.
The sector source speculated that possible trade buyers could include Italian media groups such as Mediaset, or trade rivals such as Swisscom’s Fastweb, Tiscali or Wind, assuming TI was willing to sell to a rival.
A source added that no one knows yet whether TI media will be put on the market as the decision will depend on what any new management at TI decides.
A source close to Pirelli, which still controls an 80% stake in Olimpia, also confirmed that it would be extremely difficult for Telecom Italia to sell TI Media before the new shareholders, who also include Generali, Intesa Sanpaolo and Edizione, take a controlling stake in the company.
The source close to Pirelli said the consortium set to take over Olimpia is waiting for a decision from Brazil’s telecom regulator Anatel for the change of control of Tim Brazil. However, the source said that a non-decision over the takeover by Anatel cannot block the operation.
A Telecom Italia spokesperson reiterated that the group has no plans to sell TI Media, but a person familiar with the company said it is highly unlikely that Telecom Italia would decide to sell such an important asset before new owners led by Italian financial institutions and Telefonica take over Olimpia, the holding that has a controlling 18% stake in Telecom Italia.
TI Media has a current market capitalisation of EUR 866m.
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