Mubadala emerges as potential investor in Italian telecoms deal

• Shareholders may buy out minorities
• Dispute clouds customer relations
• Market value down 27 percent

The leading shareholders in Infrastrutture Wireless Italiane (INWIT) are arranging the financing for a potential take-private deal regarding Italy’s largest mobile telecom towers company, two people close to the matter said, amid a contractual dispute between the masts firm and its two main customers.

French private equity firm Ardian and investment vehicle Oak Holdings 1 (the latter backed by co-investors GIP, Vodafone and KKR) are exploring a bid to buy out minority shareholders in INWIT, the people said.

Ardian controls 32 percent of INWIT, while Oak Holdings controls 39 percent.

The investors are discussing the financing of the bid with banks, the people said, with one person adding that Abu Dhabi investment firm Mubadala is expected to take a stake in INWIT as part of the plan.

The sources cautioned that deliberations are still ongoing.

Ardian, GIP, Vodafone and Mubadala declined to comment. GIP is part of the US investment firm BlackRock.

An INWIT spokesperson said the company had no information on the matter.

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Shares in INWIT were up around 1 percent at 10:00 GMT, paring gains after rising as much as 5 percent.

INWIT’s market value had fallen about 27 percent over the past year to $7.1 billion as of Friday’s close, according to LSEG data.

INWIT, which listed in Milan in 2015, has been the subject of takeover speculation since a French media report in February that infrastructure fund Ardian and investment group Brookfield were interested in taking the Italian company private.

Brokerage Equita said it considered the takeover scenario “credible” but was cautious.