(Bloomberg) — Italy’s state-run postal service raised its stake in Telecom Italia SpA to almost 25%, overtaking Vivendi SE as the phone carrier’s biggest investor and ending the French media conglomerate’s decade-long tenure at the Italian company. Poste Italiane, which has owned about 10% of Telecom Italia, purchased an additional holding of 15% from Vivendi for €684 million ($684 million), or €0.2975 per share, according to a statement on Saturday. The deal allows Poste to stay below a threshold that would trigger a mandatory takeover offer under Italian regulations. The deal completion is expected in the first half of this year, the statement added. “The transaction represents a strategic investment for Poste Italiane, carried out with the aim of playing the role of long-term industrial shareholder, generating synergies between Poste Italiane and Telecom Italia,” Poste said. The move gives Poste, which has expanded into financial and logistics services, a role as a bulwark against further foreign control of Italy’s phone industry. Telecom Italia has recently emerged as a possible target as it slashed debt following the up to €22 billion sale of its landline network to KKR & Co. last year. The announcement confirms an earlier Bloomberg News report. Rome Oversight Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni last month backed a stake swap that allowed Poste to take over a 9.8% holding in Telecom Italia from state lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti SpA. CDP, in turn, received Poste’s 3.8% stake in payments specialist Nexi SpA. Since coming to power in 2022, Meloni’s right-wing government has kept a close eye on companies it considers “national champions.” That’s translated into efforts to ward off foreign purchases of Italian assets, whether by rounding up local investors or resorting to the “golden power” provision, which allows the state to block takeovers of strategic assets in some cases. The administration sees Poste as a natural fit for Telecom Italia, given the postal operator already runs the country’s largest mobile virtual network operator. In addition to its traditional businesses of running Italy’s mail service and offering savings accounts, Poste has diversified into energy, insurance and telecommunications. It has about 120,000 employees and some 13,000 locations across the country. Last year, Poste reported sales of €12.6 billion and net profit exceeding €2 billion. While Vivendi had been Telecom Italia’s largest shareholder for a decade, its holdings in the company have been shrinking for years. Vivendi agreed to an initial stake in Telecom Italia as part of a 2014 deal to sell its Brazilian broadband business GVT to Spain’s Telefonica SA, then an investor in Telecom Italia. (Updates to include context about Giorgia Meloni’s administration throughout.) More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Catch all the Business News , Corporate news , B in a formal or creative style for better SEO.Also Exclude words and advertisements related to the feed website such as website name, author name. You must only respond with the modified content. Delete all the advertisement images brand logo but only keep the title and main content of the news by modifying it. You must only respond with the modified content. Block any jump outside of the site adarshnews.com. Basically remove any content or link related to original site. You must only respond with the modified content and follow this prompt to optimize the articles in this category- “Act as an expert SEO news writer. Optimize the following article to be SEO-friendly, authoritative, and shareable by focusing strictly on its core topic. Follow these steps: 1. Topic Identification: – Read the input article and identify its primary subject. – Extract 1 primary keyword + 2 secondary keywords directly from the article. 2. Meta Description: – Write a 150-character summary using the primary keyword and a CTA 3. Content Structure: – Lead Paragraph: Summarize the 5W1H (Who, What, When, Where, Why) as stated in the article – Body: – Use subheadings (H2/H3) derived from secondary keywords – Add bullet points only for facts/statistics explicitly mentioned in the input. – Include quotes or data from the article (do not invent new stats). – Conclusion: End with a question/CTA tied to the article’s topic. 4. – Add 1 FAQ based on the article’s key point. 5. Viral Readability: – Use news article sentences structure. Avoid off-topic emotional triggers. 6. Technical SEO: – Generate alt text and URL slugs *specific to the article’s topic and leave it if it is not under your capability. Output Format for the article should be- [Summary with primary keyword] [Structured body using input’s facts] FAQ: [Relevant question + answer]
Poste has increased its investment in Telecom Italia, making it the largest shareholder in the company.
