Stock Markets March 23, 2026

Poste Italiane unveils €10.8 billion bid to take Telecom Italia private

Cash-and-stock offer aims to consolidate postal and telecom assets under majority state control and create a larger integrated distribution and services platform

By Ajmal Hussain
Poste Italiane unveils €10.8 billion bid to take Telecom Italia private

Poste Italiane has launched a voluntary cash-and-stock takeover offer for Telecom Italia valued at €10.8 billion, proposing to buy all outstanding shares, delist TIM from Euronext Milan, and place the enlarged group under majority Italian state ownership. The offer combines a cash payment and newly issued Poste shares, values each TIM share at €0.635 and carries expected synergies and a multi-year integration timeline.

Key Points

  • Poste Italiane launched a €10.8 billion cash-and-stock voluntary offer to buy all Telecom Italia shares and delist TIM from Euronext Milan.
  • Deal consideration is €0.167 cash plus 0.0218 new Poste shares per TIM share, valuing each TIM share at €0.635 - a 9.01% premium to the March 20 closing price.
  • Pro forma combined revenues are estimated at approximately €26.9 billion with pro forma EBIT around €4.8 billion, and expected annual pre-tax synergies of €0.7 billion.

Italy’s state-controlled postal operator, Poste Italiane SpA, has formally submitted a €10.8 billion cash-and-stock proposal to acquire all outstanding share capital of Telecom Italia SpA (TIM) and remove it from Euronext Milan. The voluntary public offer was approved by Poste Italiane’s board of directors, chaired by Silvia Maria Rovere.

The proposed consideration consists of a cash component of €0.167 for each TIM share plus 0.0218 newly issued ordinary Poste Italiane shares for each TIM share tendered. In aggregate this values each TIM share at €0.635, representing a premium of 9.01% to TIM’s official closing price on March 20.

The transaction remains subject to regulatory approvals and other conditions that will be set out in the formal offer document. Completion is expected by the end of 2026, according to the announcement.

Poste Italiane said the deal would place the combined group under majority Italian state ownership, with the state holding a stake in excess of 50%, including holdings through Cassa Depositi e Prestiti. The company described the structure as designed to provide long-term stability and a clear strategic mandate aimed at creating value for stakeholders and for the country as a whole.


On a pro forma basis, and based on 2025 financial results excluding synergies, the merged entity would report approximately €26.9 billion in aggregate revenues and about €4.8 billion in aggregate EBIT. The combined workforce would exceed 150,000 employees.

Poste Italiane estimated annual pre-tax synergies of about €0.7 billion, composed of roughly €0.5 billion in cost synergies and more than €0.2 billion in revenue synergies. One-off pre-tax costs to realise those synergies are also estimated at approximately €0.7 billion. The company expects cost synergies to be realised within two years of deal completion and revenue synergies within three years.

Financial impacts outlined in the announcement include a positive effect on Poste Italiane’s earnings per share starting in 2027 and a neutral impact on its dividend per share with respect to 2026 net profit.


Poste Italiane highlighted the scale of the combined distribution and customer footprint: around 13,000 post offices, more than 4,000 TIM retail stores and over 49,000 third-party partners, serving in excess of 19 million active digital customers.

Poste Italiane first became a shareholder in TIM in February 2025 and said integration work is already underway. Existing elements of that integration include a Mobile Virtual Network Operator agreement and a partnership in the energy sector.

TIM’s deferred tax assets, which stood at €982 million as of December 31, 2024, are expected to be partially realised as a result of the combination. Following completion, Poste Italiane’s free float is projected to exceed €15 billion.

Risks

  • The offer is conditional on regulatory approvals and additional conditions to be detailed in the offer document - regulatory clearance is therefore a key uncertainty (impacts telecom and financial sectors).
  • Realisation of estimated synergies requires incurring roughly €0.7 billion of one-off pre-tax costs and meeting specified timelines - delivery risk affects cost and revenue expectations (impacts operations across postal and telecom businesses).
  • Partial realisation of TIM’s €982 million deferred tax assets is anticipated but not guaranteed, introducing tax-related uncertainty into projected financial outcomes (impacts financial reporting and tax planning).

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