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The Treasury’s offer for Sparkle, the international submarine cable network which also connects the Middle East with the USA, arrived late yesterday evening after the deadline set for stopping negotiations with the seller Tim. The offer is for 100% of the company – which is considered strategic for national security purposes and therefore protected by golden power – and does not differ in fact from the initial valuation which was 600 million plus 150 million in possible additional awards (earn out) to reach a maximum of 750 million.
Tim presents the first cryptographic microchip
The new proposal
The difference compared to the first offer, which was not considered satisfactory by the Tim board, is that the latter includes a variant that could raise the valuation. Tim herself explained it with a note one hour after midnight yesterday: in the offer that is
The other network
Tim had put Sparkle on sale as a package with the network. The network will pass to the Kkr consortium, in which the Treasury will also participate with 20% and F2i with 10% Kkr, for 18.8 billion (plus earnout to reach 22 billion) to take over Netco to which the national network will be transferred. Kkr had initially estimated the value of Sparkle at 1.2 billion – in terms of enterprise value (equity plus debt) – knowing, however, that the asset was intended for the Mef. Yesterday the Treasury instead came forward directly and the discussions will now continue, without intermediaries, between the institutional interlocutor and the telephone company which is redesigning its future without a network.