CEO: OTMT Not Involved In Sawiris’ Offer For Telecom Italia

Karim Beshara, the CEO of Orascom Telecom Media and Technology Holding (OTMT.CA), said the Group is not involved in the OTMT Founder Naguib Sawiris’ takeover offer to purchase a stake in Telecom Italia SpA (TIT).

Beshara further told Amwal Al Ghad that Sawiris did not offer the purchase deal to Telecom Italia in his capacity as Founder of OTMT, so OTMT has nothing to do with such a deal.

Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris offered as much as 5 billion euros ($6.4 billion) to purchase a stake in Telecom Italia SpA.

The offer is for a minority stake in Italy’s former phone monopoly, said the person, who declined to be identified because the talks are private. Sawiris “declined to comment about rumors circulating in the media,” Orascom Telecom Media & Technology Holding SAE spokeswoman Manal Abdel-Hamid said.

Telecom Italia’s management board discussed a bid from Sawiris at a meeting on Nov. 8,Corriere della Sera reported Nov. 10. The offer is for as much as 5 billion euros ($6.4 billion), though the amount the businessman plans to invest wasn’t discussed by management, according to the newspaper. Milan-based Telecom Italia has a market value of almost 13 billion euros after falling 17 percent this year.

“Telecom Italia is so distressed something has to happen,” said Robin Bienenstock, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein In London. “M&A will drive the share price up and if there is resistance to Sawiris, Telecom Italia may have no choice but to do a deal with Cassa Depositi.”

Telecom Italia is considering a plan to spin off its fixed- line network, and Chief Executive Officer Franco Bernabe (BNBC) has said there is an “open dialogue” with state lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti SpA about a possible investment in the network. Buying a stake in Italy’s biggest phone company would mark Sawiris’s return into the market a year after he sold mobile operator Wind Telecom SpA.