Italy's Poste moves to expand activities with Telecom Italia bid

MILAN, March 23 (Reuters) - Italian state‑controlled conglomerate Poste Italiane PST.MI moved to further expand its many businesses by acquiring Telecom Italia (TIM) TLIT.MI through a 10.8 billion euro ($12.5 billion) cash‑and‑share bid for the former phone monopoly.

Poste, which is two-third owned by the Italian state, operates across mail, financial, payments, energy and broadband services.

By taking over TIM, Poste would full control TIM's data‑centre network and its cybersecurity unit Telsy, assets it plans to use to bolster national digital sovereignty.

Last year it built a 27% stake to become TIM's largest shareholder, replacing France's Vivendi VIV.PA.

The conglomerate, which had initially ruled out a takeover of TIM, said it expects the combination with TIM to generate some 700 million euros a year in benefits once completed, mainly through lower costs.

The bid, which Poste unexpectedly announced late on Sunday, targets all of TIM shares Poste doesn't already own, offering TIM shareholders a 9% premium to Friday's closing price.

If the bid succeeds, Poste would take TIM off the stock market.

TIM directors will meet on Monday to start evaluating the offer, which Poste expects to complete by the end of this year.

TIM, long pressured by aggressive price competition on its domestic market, in 2024 sold its fixed‑line network to a KKR KKR.N‑led consortium backed by the Italian government, cutting debt and shifting most of its workforce on its network venture.

($1 = 0.8677 euros)