The board of Pirelli & C SpA accepted an offer on Saturday night that turns over control of Telecom Italia to a consortium of companies comprising Spain's Telefonica and a group of Italian financial interests, Pirelli said in a statement.
Under the deal, Pirelli sells out its entire 80 percent interest in the Olimpia holding company, which had taken over Telecom Italia with an 18 percent share in 2001. The Benetton family also sells its 20 percent share in Olimpia, but it remains part of the controlling shareholder group.
The deal is worth 4.1 billion euro (US$5.58 billion) -- or 2.82 euro a share, less Olimpia's debt. The transaction is expected to be completed by October, Pirelli said in a statement.
The new controlling shareholder group in Europe's fifth-largest telecoms operator is Spain's Telefonica, Mediobanca, Banca Intesa Sanpaolo, the insurer Generali Assicurazioni and the Benetton family. Italian news agencies reported they will form a new company, Telco Spa, to control Telecom Italia with a 23.6 percent share -- incorporating also the 5.6 percent Telecom Italia share already held by Mediobanca and Generali.
The deal came after US telecoms giant AT&T Inc backed out of talks to buy a controlling stake of Olimpia with its Mexican affiliate America Movil. AT&T cited regulatory concerns, but the move came amid concern from Rome about the former telephone monopoly falling under foreign control.
Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi was among those who said he preferred that Telecom Italia remain in Italian hands.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)