Telecom Italia to receive a €1 billion payout

Telecom Italia (TIM) is set for a €1 billion ($1.1bn) payout after it won its 15-year dispute with the Italian government. A court in Rome ordered the government to pay the sum after TIM sought to recover the license fee it was required to pay to the state in 1998, the year after the telecoms sector was deregulated.

"In particular, in 2020, the European judiciary ruled that the EU regulatory system did not permit a national regulation to extend for the year 1998 the obligation imposed on a telecommunications company, previously a concessionaire (such as TIM), to pay a license fee calculated on the basis of its revenues, but only permitted the demand for payment of the administrative costs connected with the issuance, management, control, and implementation of the general authorization and individual license system," said TIM.

TIM approved the deal without making it conditional on a vote by shareholders, with the board voting 11-3 in favor of the deal. KKR valued the assets at €18.8bn ($20.5bn), but the overall value of the deal is as much as €22bn ($23.9bn) based on what can be earned if the grid is merged with that of small rival Open Fiber SpA.