Telecom Italia concludes savings share conversion ahead of Poste's bid

MILAN, May 21 (Reuters) - Telecom Italia is acceptable to reason connected Thursday a transaction to crook a peculiar people of shares carrying ‌higher capitalist remuneration into mean stock, successful a long-awaited determination ‌that removes a root of other costs for the group.

Telecom Italia (TIM) launched the conversion program successful ​December aft pocketing €1 cardinal ($1.16 billion) from a tribunal victory.

Most TIM savings shareholders accepted the connection successful a voluntary signifier that ended connected Tuesday with 93.5% take-up; the remainder faces mandatory conversion connected Thursday, up of delisting.

Davide Leone, whose fiscal ‌investment steadfast started amassing ⁠TIM savings shares successful 2024 and became their main holder, said the determination was a stake connected "a normalisation" process for ⁠TIM.

"One measurement had to beryllium the simplification of the dual stock classes, which others successful the past had identified arsenic an contented and repeatedly tried to ​solve."

After an ​ill‑fated privatisation successful the precocious 1990s, ​TIM has spent years successful ‌restructuring mode, culminating successful the merchantability of its fixed-line web successful 2024 to shed indebtedness and an expected instrumentality into nationalist hands aboriginal this twelvemonth pursuing a takeover by state-backed conglomerate Poste Italiane.

Poste's bid comes amid the imaginable of consolidation successful the telecoms sector, wherever harsh terms contention has squeezed margins, ‌making looming 5G investments hard to sustain.

Leone, ​who volition ain astir 3% of TIM ​after converting a 13% savings ​share stake, declined to remark straight connected Poste's bid.

However, helium ‌noted that Poste's concern successful TIM ​aligned Italy with ​other large European countries wherever the authorities has kept a holding successful erstwhile telephone monopolies.

He said helium seized the accidental to commencement buying ​TIM's savings shares successful ‌2024 erstwhile a concern program sparked a "bad marketplace reaction", pushing prices ​to "levels which we regarded arsenic semipermanent charismatic valuations."

($1 = 0.8618 euros)

(Reporting by ​Valentina Za; Editing by Chiara Rodriquez)