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Poste Italiane Launches 10.8 Billion Euro Bid for Telecom Italia

By  |  March 23, 2026

Poste Italiane has launched a 10.8 billion euro ($12.5 billion) cash-and-share offer for Telecom Italia, a move that would take the former phone monopoly private and return it to public control decades after its privatization, according to Reuters.

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    The Italian postal group, which is majority owned by the state and is already Telecom Italia’s largest shareholder, said it would offer 0.167 euros in cash and 0.0218 newly issued Poste shares for each TIM share tendered. That values TIM at 0.635 euros per share, representing a 9.01% premium to Friday’s closing price, according to Reuters.

    Poste said the proposed acquisition would give it access to both mobile and fixed-line telecommunications networks, while also strengthening its presence in cloud services and data center infrastructure. The company said the deal would improve its ability to provide secure data management services for the Italian state, in line with broader European Union efforts to safeguard data sovereignty, per Reuters.

    Read more: Altice Rejects €17 Billion Offer for SFR from French Telecom Rivals

    The deal would create a combined group with pro forma revenue of 27 billion euros and operating profit of 5 billion euros, employing more than 150,000 people, according to Reuters. Poste also said the merger would generate annual pre-tax benefits of 700 million euros, including 500 million euros from cost reductions and lower financing expenses, per Reuters.

    The bid reflects a broader push by European governments to increase control over strategic assets that manage growing volumes of sensitive data from citizens and businesses. According to Reuters, the move also fits into efforts across the European Union to build national champions capable of competing more effectively with large U.S. technology companies.

    If completed, the takeover would mark a major shift in Italy’s telecommunications sector, bringing Telecom Italia back under public ownership about 30 years after a privatization widely seen as unsuccessful, according to Reuters.

    Source: Reuters