TIM considers Persidera offer to be ‘fair’

The board of Telecom Italia (TIM) is thought to consider an offer to acquire its broadcasting unit Persidera to be ‘fair’. Reuters cites unnamed sources as saying that the binding offer, from infrastructure fund F2i, is worth between EUR240 million and EUR250 million (USD269 million-USD280 million). TIM owns 70% of Persidera, with the remaining 30% held by Italian publisher Gruppo Editoriale L’Espresso (Gedi). Gedi must give its backing to the F2i offer for the sale to proceed. Persidera owns and operates Italy’s nationwide DTT broadcasting network, with TIM keen to offload the unit in order to reduce debt and allow it to focus on its core telecoms operations.