Ardian-led consortium completes purchase of indirect stake in INWIT from TIM

• The consortium now holds a 90% stake in Daphne 3
• Impulse I, Ardian and CAA’s consortium vehicle completed the purchase
• Impulse I has full and exclusive control of the company while TIM retains certain minority rights

Impulse I, Ardian and Crédit Agricole Assurance’s consortium vehicle on Thursday completed the purchase of the indirect stake in Infrastrutture Wireless Italiane (INWIT) from TIM. Impulse I bought TIM’s 41% stake in Daphne 3, the holding company that holds a 30.2% stake of INWIT.

INWIT is a Milan-headquartered wireless network infrastructure company that was founded by Rome-headquartered TIM. The closing of the deal sees Impulse I hold a 90% stake in Daphne 3 with full and exclusive control, though TIM does retain certain minority rights.

Impulse I’s investment in Daphne 3 further demonstrates the strength of the partnership between Ardian, Crédit Agricole Assurances and TIM and their desire to support INWIT’s decarbonisation goals around digital infrastructure as it looks to aid in the digitalisation of Italy, the firms said. INWIT is driving ESG practices within TIM and the broader European telecommunications industry.

“Our continuous support to one of the European towerco champions INWIT is fully aligned with Ardian Infrastructure strategy: INWIT is committed to playing an essential role in the Italian economy digitalisation while setting an ambitious decarbonization net zero objective by 2024,” said Mathias Burghardt, head of Paris-headquartered Ardian Infrastructure and member of Ardian’s executive committee. “Ardian will continue to act, together with Vodafone and TIM, as long term partners to foster INWIT’s growth strategy.”

Paris-based Crédit Agricole Assurances is the largest insurance group in France with over 5,000 employees and an income at the end of 2021 of €37 billion.