La compra de Inwit se juega a gran altura
El litigio con Fastweb y Telecom Italia pone en duda la estabilidad de sus ingresos
A controversy over telecommunications tower operator Inwit appears to have become a major hurdle in its acquisition. Among the primary shareholders of Infrastrutture Wireless Italiane (Inwit), Ardian and Oak Holdings 1 are reportedly preparing financing for a potential offer for the 29% they do not own. A 30% drop in the company's share price over the past year makes the operation cheaper, but success depends on resolving the dispute amicably.
Tower operators attract infrastructure investors with predictable cash flows backed by long-term contracts with telecommunications companies. However, Inwit's case has cast doubt on that premise, as key customers Fastweb, Swisscom through Swisscom, and Telecom Italia hold 88% of the company's 2025 revenue. They claim they can terminate their framework service contracts in 2028, while Inwit asserts these contracts extend to 2038.
The dispute is currently in court. Despite the sharp decline in the stock price, the share value does not yet account for the loss of these key customers. Ardian, owning 32% of the company, and Oak Holdings 1, with 39%, are likely to renegotiate the contracts on the cheap. An offer of 7.73 euros per share, 10% above Friday's closing price, would cost around 2 billion euros.
Even then, the return appears modest, with Inwit expected to pay out 530 million euros in dividends in 2031. Buying the additional 29% would allow Ardian and Oak to distribute an extra 155 million euros, a modest 7.6% return. Another option is to increase leverage by adding 1.3 billion euros in debt to the company, reducing the investment to 700 million euros.
This would result in a net debt seven times the company's expected EBITDA for the year, exceeding the management's target of five to six times. However, after covering the interest on the additional debt, the incremental dividend for shareholders would be only 63 million euros, assuming a 7% cost of financing. The return would be below 10%, far below what private equity typically seeks.
And this does not include the potential renegotiation. Any offer would be a bet on resolving the dispute cleanly. The writer is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. Opinions are their own.
Written by urgent.news from El Pais Economia's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
