Wind and 3 Italia merger could happen as early as today
Wind Telecomunicazioni’s long-mooted merger with Hutchison Whampoa-owned rival 3 Italia is back on, according to a report by Il Giornale. The potential merger has been discussed since 2008 when Wind was owned by Naguib Sawiris, but now seems close to the finish line. Shareholders gathered in London yesterday at Deutsche Bank’s offices to discuss the deal, which could be announced as early as today (17 February), the article state, without attributing the information.
Neither party was willing to comment. The deal would create the third biggest Italian telco with 33 million clients (23 million from Wind) and EUR 7bn of revenues, the paper reported.
A few weeks ago during an interview about exclusive negotiations regarding its acquisition of O2 from Telefonica, Hutchison Whampoa CFO Frank Sixt said the company hoped to move fast in sector consolidation in Italy, Il Giornale noted.
The article highlighted several issues that have slowed down the potential merger, including the difficulties of creating an equal alliance between 3 Italia, which has received some EUR 13bn of investment from Hutchison Whampoa over the years, and Wind, which was bought by Russian group Vimpelcom for 2010 for EUR 6.8bn and has EUR 9.5bn of debt. The discussions have also stalled over valuation issues, with TMT assets fetching up to 7x EBITDA but 3 Italia still plagued by profitability issues, il Giornale said.
Il Giornale