By Giovanni Legorano
Italian lender Mediobanca SpA said Monday it has decided to
withdraw from Telco, a holding company controlling a 22.4% stake in
Telecom Italia SpA, in a further step toward an exit from its
investment in the Italian telecom operator.
In a statement, Mediobanca said it "exercised its right to
request the demerger of Telco permitted under the terms of the
shareholder agreement." This will leave it with a direct stake in
Telecom Italia of 1.6%. Other shareholders in Telco are Intesa
Sanpaolo SpA, Assicurazioni Generali and Telefonica SA.
The news comes after Generali said last Wednesday that its board
had agreed to withdraw from Telco too. Intesa Sanpaolo had also
said in the past it planned to exit Telco and this is likely to
lead to the dissolution of the holding company altogether. If this
happens, Telefónica will end up becoming the largest single
shareholder in the Italian firm, with direct stake of around 15% of
Telecom Italia.
This is likely to reignite competition concerns that the
Brazilian antitrust regulator has expressed. Both Telefónica and
Telecom Italia have important assets in Brazil-- Tim Participacoes
and Vivo--and the Brazilian regulator has already said that
Telefónica has to get rid of either its stake in Telecom Italia or
its other Brazilian asset, Vivo.
Telefónica has tried to ease the Brazilian regulator's concerns
by withdrawing its representatives from Telecom Italia's board in
December.
However, Telecom Italia isn't willing to let go of Brazilian
unit Tim Participacoes, as Chief Executive Officer Marco Patuano
has repeatedly said it is a core asset to the company.
Mediobanca's exit from the investment in Telecom Italia is part
of the Italian merchant bank's plan to shed part of its large
investments in Italian companies, which marks a drastic turnaround
from the bank's decadelong strategy.
Last June, the bank said it would have slashed its equity
exposure by 2 billion euros ($2.7 billion) by June 2016, selling
stakes in companies such RCS Mediagroup and part of its stake in
Generali, besides its Telco investment.
Mediobanca started to reduce its stake in Telco in September,
with a drop of its holding to 7.3%, from 11.6%.
Write to Giovanni Legorano at giovanni.legorano@wsj.com
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