Open Fibre: sale of company branch with grey area lots to Fibercop has been suggested

The transfer of the 1-gig Italy plan's lots in the grey, semi-market-failure areas from Open Fiber to Fibercop, advocated by the government, could go through the sale of a business unit, according to Radiocor. This would be one of the hypotheses being discussed in these days. Another hypothesis in the field is that of evaluating lot by lot, identifying criteria for hiving off the municipalities. The transfer of a business unit, which would also involve the transfer of employees, would be subject to antitrust scrutiny. The hypothesis of the sale of the 1-gig Italy plan lots awarded by Open Fiber concerns the regions of Tuscany, Lazio, Emilia-Romagna, Lombardy, Veneto plus Friuli-Venezia. It was the Department for Digital Transformation of the Prime Minister's Office itself that put forward this hypothesis. However, one of the most pressing problems to be resolved, encountered by Open Fiber itself, is that of the shortage of qualified manpower to complete the work quickly.

The aim, again according to information, is to conclude the transaction on the lots by June, but a postponement cannot be ruled out, as it will then be necessary to decide what to contribute to the business unit and how much to value it.

The combination of Open Fibre and Fibercop, an operation requested by many in the market and hoped for also by Tim's top management, could therefore in the meantime take the initial form of the sale of a business unit for the grey areas. This would not, however, be enough to configure the combination of the two groups to which, if realised by 2026, an earn-out to Tim of around two billion would be linked.

Meanwhile, the transaction to sell Fibercop to the cordate with Kkr is still sub judice by the Antitrust Authority, which is looking at the Msa between Tim and Fibercop in order to verify whether the latter, after the demerger of Tim's fixed network, is actually independent and whether the 30-year exclusivity for the provision of wholesale access services to Tim is excessive. Investigation on which a consultation should be opened.

Among the issues that could emerge, according to some sources close to the dossier, is Fibercop's purchase of some ftth lines resold to Tim by the small company Connecting Project, which in turn buys from Open Fiber. The transaction, according to various sources close to the dossier, is taking place at prices **higher** than those at which it is resold.