CVC Capital Partners has made an offer to acquire a significant stake in Italian telco TIM’s data center unit, as the company considers a separate acquisition bid from KKR for the wider business.
CVC Capital Partners has made a non-binding offer for 49 percent of Telecom Italia SpA’s new enterprise services unit, according to a statement from the company.
The unit, which is still being set up, will be part of TIM’s ServCo division and will include the Olivetti brand, cloud computing activities, the Noovle data center business, the Telsy cybersecurity business, and other assets.
CVC has reportedly asked for eight weeks to run due diligence on the unit.
The move comes ahead of a board meeting scheduled this week to discuss and meet with KKR & Co. for more details about its €10.8 billion bid for the company.
TIM’s former CEO Luigi Gubitosi left the company in November 2021, reportedly due a clash with investors over the bid from KKR. TIM Brasil CEO Pietro Labriola has taken over the role.
TIM acquired Noovle in May 2020, and relaunched the company last year after previously announcing it was to spin off its data center unit. Noovle says it has 17 data centers; six dedicated to public cloud providers, seven ‘core’ data centers, and four micro data centers. At its relaunch, the company said it planned to build six more data centers and by 2022 it will have more than 50,000 square meters (538,200 sq ft) and up to 100MW of capacity.
TIM’s European data center subsidiary Sparkle also operates four facilities in Greece – three in Athens and one Chania – as well as data centers in Sicily and Turkey. Whether they are included in CVC's proposed bid is unclear.
TIM’s fixed network and national and international wholesale businesses – including FiberCop and Sparkle – are due to be brought together in the planned NetCo business unit.
