Kkr wants the approval of Draghi and the government for the acquisition of Tim
There is an aspect that has not yet entered the discussion on the story of Tim. Yet this is a non-secondary argument on a story that can rewrite the future of one of the main Italian companies. Namely the foreign policy of the Draghi government. It does not seem to be a mystery, in fact, that the offer of the US fund for the Italian telecommunications giant came with the go-ahead from Mario Draghi. Since SuperMario arrived at Palazzo Chigi, it is certainly no mystery that the Italian geopolitical balance has forcefully returned to the axis euroatlantic. With many greetings to the various Sinorussian flirts of previous years. And the episode of Kkr it only confirms an already clear trend.
Gone are the days when Italy used to go to Beijing with hat in hand. The Conte I government, the yellow-green one, signed the memorandum of understanding with the People’s Republic of China on the Belt and Road March 23, 2019. It’s been two and a half years or so, but it seems like an eternity has passed. Just as it seems an eternity has passed since the direct Facebook of Luigi Di Maio that during the bis government, the Giallorossi one, immortalized the arrival of Chinese masks and respirators. Today the Draghi government looks above all to Washington, and now every investment in which Beijing is involved leads to golden power.
On Tim, Formiche claims, Kkr would have sounded out the Draghi government before making the offer to buy the Tim group. THE diplomatic channels they would have given a green light, albeit without explicit indications from the president of the board himself, given that Tim is a private listed company. However, the fund also expressly requires the approval of the government. The expression of interest “is, at present, conditional, among other things, on the performance of a due diligence confirmation with an estimated duration of four weeks, as well as to the approval of the relevant institutional subjects and the government authority “.
Behind the Kkr operation, the Atlanticist steering of the Draghi government
Now the government will have to decide whether to intervene with golden power, as someone already asks, or not. In an interview with Affaritaliani, for example, Stefano Fassina asks that Open Fiber acquire the network and Tim Sparkle. The Five Star Movement is asking the government to report to parliament on the operation. In short, the red carpets are not spread by everyone. Yet the arrival of the Americans is not disdained at Palazzo Chigi and its surroundings. On the other hand, Kkr is already present in Italy with major investments on Fibercop (1.8 billion for 37.5%) and Cmc Machinery, a company specializing in automated packaging.
And in recent months, American investments in Italy have been many. The Texan aerospace company Exos, one of ten in the US with a launch license, recently announced the opening in Turin of the first European site to produce reusable rockets, while the fund Oaktree CM has just acquired 70% of a Turin company leader in the energy sector. The same fund could also become the owner of Inter in the case Suning could not pay off the debt. And right in the football more and more Italian teams are owned by Americans, from Milan with the Elliot fund to Comisso’s Fiorentina to Dan Friedkin’s Rome.
With Draghi, business with the United States increases, stop those with China
US direct investments in Italy are still much smaller than those in France and Germany, but have increased in the last two years. Perhaps also for the duty of reaction in the face of the Chinese counterattack of the Silk Road. A few examples? The mega-five billion dollar order obtained by Fincantieri for the US Navy, that obtained by Webuild for the Dallas-Houston high-speed line. And then the acquisitions of Ipsco Tubulars, Steamline Therapeutics, Capital Brands and Luminex by Tenaris, Menarini, De ‘Longhi and Diasorin.
On the other hand, however, various projects have been stopped. Starting from space, with Italy returning to orbit NASA after gravitating around the Chinese space program. But then also with the golden power exercised on 5G network infrastructures and the attempted acquisition of the majority of a small semiconductor company in the province of Milan, the LPE, as well as the discouragement of the sale of Iveco vans to Chinese entities.
Italy has returned in a convinced way to be an ally, some would say sparring partner, trusted by the United States. A return to the fold that is reflected not only in diplomatic moves, but also in economic and financial ones. And that could find further confirmation in the Kkr-Tim case. With all due respect to the French under Vivendi and the Quirinale Treaty that Emmanuel Macron should sign with Sergio Mattarella on Thursday.
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