Poste Italiane Takes Control of Telecom Italia Without Triggering a Full Exit

Poste Italiane takes control of Telecom Italia with an 85.823% stake. The stock remains listed after missing the 90% threshold needed for delisting.

Telecom Italia is entering a new phase with an old problem still unresolved: Poste Italiane now has the steering wheel, but not quite enough stock to force the doors open on a full delisting.

The Telecom Italia board acknowledged yesterday that Poste Italiane has formally begun exercising its leadership and coordination role. It also approved operating guidelines governing information flows between the two groups and their subsidiaries. The move gives the Italian postal and financial group strategic control, while leaving the listed company intact for now.

Poste Italiane ended up with 85.823 percent of Telecom Italia’s share capital after the tender offer. That was enough to dominate the shareholder meeting and set the direction of travel, but it fell short of the 90 percent threshold needed for an automatic delisting and the squeeze-out of remaining minority investors. The stock therefore stays on the market, even as the balance of power inside the company has changed completely.

Board chairman Alberta Figari oversaw the meeting, which also clarified that Telecom Italia retains full legal autonomy, its own board and separate market communications. That framework is meant to safeguard the remaining minority holders, who still own around 14 percent of the capital.

The question for those investors is how long that position remains relevant. Reuters said the missed chance of a near-term exit weighed on the share price. Telecom Italia stock was down 1.6 percent at EUR 6.57 today in one trading update, while another market reading put it at EUR 6.62, off 0.9 percent. Either way, the price remains well below the 52-week high of EUR 8.19, leaving it 20 percent lower than that peak.

There is also a personal signal from management. Pietro Labriola had already tendered his 1,692,431 ordinary shares, worth EUR 3.3 million, more than three weeks ago. According to Milano Finanza, he is expected to remain chief executive until the normal end of his term in the spring.

The new ownership structure comes with a more ambitious industrial plan. Telecom Italia and Poste Italiane are targeting annual savings and synergies of at least EUR 700 million, to be generated through shared network infrastructure, pooled technology and centralized administrative functions. Within that setup, Telecom Italia is expected to evolve into a dedicated business unit for connectivity and technology inside the wider group.

A key element is the planned merger of PosteMobile with TIM Consumer. The combination is intended to create the largest mobile operator in Italy. The companies have said the joint industrial plan will be presented in the first half of 2027.

For the remaining shareholders, the end of the cash-and-share compensation mechanism changes the trading environment immediately. With the free float sharply reduced, liquidity is likely to dry up further, making the shares harder to trade and potentially more volatile. Large institutional investors tend to avoid names with thin turnover, which can leave the price more exposed to erratic moves.

Poste Italiane financed the cash portion of the transaction with a EUR 2.8 billion loan running for up to two years, according to Corriere della Sera. That gives the new controlling shareholder room to move at its own pace. For the moment, the company has no urgent need to buy out the rest of the register, even though it already has the voting power to push through major strategic decisions.

The balance, then, is straightforward: Poste Italiane has achieved effective control, Telecom Italia remains listed, and minority investors are left waiting for the next formal step.