The Italian state-owned postal service, known as Poste Italiane, has officially assumed control of Telecom Italia, which owns TIM, becoming the new indirect administrator of the telecommunications operator in Brazil. This transaction, valued at 13 billion euros (equivalent to about R$ 76.8 billion), increased the state-owned company's stake from 20.1% to 66.62% in the share capital of the TIM Group.
The agreement was notified to the Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM) last Friday, the 18th. The objective of this operation is to establish a robust European conglomerate in infrastructure and digital services.
According to information released by the Teletime portal, the change in the management of the European headquarters should not modify the operator's strategy in Brazil in the short term. Alberto Griselli, CEO of TIM Brazil, clarified that the company is now part of a group with great financial solidity, which provides greater freedom to reallocate capital and reduce debt. Meanwhile, Poste Italiane stated that it considers the Brazilian unit an essential component for its business.
Currently, the operator holds the third position in the national market, holding 22.9% of mobile accesses, trailing behind the companies Vivo and Claro. Furthermore, TIM is preparing the reformulation of TIM Beta, as exclusively reported by Tecnoblog. The TIM board in Brazil assured that shareholders will be kept informed about any developments resulting from this acquisition.
The union between Poste Italiane and Telecom Italia, which was already the third largest force in the Italian telecommunications sector, results in the formation of one of Europe's largest corporate groups. The resulting company will have annual revenues of 27 billion euros (approximately R$ 158 billion) and employ more than 150 thousand employees.
With this restructuring, the Italian government intensifies its dominance over critical data infrastructures and plans to make cuts in expenses and financial benefits amounting to 700 million euros (R$ 4.1 billion) annually.