What TIM’s mega-spin-off reveals about Europe’s telecoms industry

EVEN BY ITALY’S chaotic standards, TIM Group, the country’s largest provider of telecommunication services, is an odd beast. In the past seven years it has churned through five chief executives. It has amassed net debt of more than €25bn ($27bn), making it the most indebted of Europe’s large telecoms firms. And now, to lower the load, it wants to do what none of its peers has done, by selling off its main asset: the fixed network. When Pietro Labriola, TIM’s latest new boss, explains the spin-off, he does not beat around the bush. With interest rates rising, the debt burden is becoming crushing. All three big ratings agencies now score TIM’s debt as below investment grade. Selling off the fixed network, which is expected to fetch more than €20bn, is “the clearest way to regain industrial options”. Offers were due to be in by June 9th.