A pair of mobile tower infrastructure firms are expected to improve their joint offer to acquire a 45% stake in Telecom Italia’s tower unit Infrastrutture Wireless Italiane (INWIT). According to a report from Reuters, which cites two unnamed sources, Cellnex of Spain and Italy’s F2i are likely to increase their bid to around EUR5 (USD5.67) per share, improving on their previous offer, which was thought to be in the region of EUR4.30-EUR4.50. A deal at the higher price would value INWIT at approximately EUR3 billion. Under Italian law, acquiring a stake above 30% would trigger a mandatory buyout of minority shareholdings. Another Italian infrastructure firm, EI Towers, is thought to be considering an offer of around EUR5 per share, but for a 30% interest.
Telecom Italia, which offers fixed and mobile services under the TIM brand, owns 60% of INWIT, having raised EUR875.1 million in June 2015 with the sale of a 40% stake via an initial public offering. The tower company controls around 11,500 Italian mobile masts on behalf of TIM. The telco is seeking binding offers for INWIT by mid-March and is hoping to complete a sale by the end of June.