Italian tower buyout comes with sky-high stakes
KKR•Ardian and Oak Holdings 1 are reportedly lining up financing to buy the 29% of Infrastrutture Wireless Italiane they do not own. An illustrative €7.73-per-share offer would cost about €2 billion, while added debt could push net debt to seven times expected EBITDA.
1. Potential buyout
Ardian and Oak Holdings 1 are lining up financing for a possible offer to buy the 29% of Infrastrutture Wireless Italiane they do not already own. Ardian owns 32% of the tower operator, while Oak Holdings 1 owns 39%.
2. Customer dispute
Swisscom-owned Fastweb and Telecom Italia generated 88% of INWIT’s revenue in 2025. Both argue they can end their master service agreements as early as 2028, while INWIT says the contracts were validly extended until 2038; the dispute is in Italian courts.
3. Returns depend on resolution
At an assumed €7.73 per share, about 10% above the previous Friday’s close, the offer would cost roughly €2 billion. Analysts polled by VisibleAlpha expect a €530 million dividend in 2031, of which a 29% stake would represent an additional €155 million. An assumed €1.3 billion of added debt could reduce the buyers’ investment to €700 million, but lift net debt to seven times expected EBITDA; after interest, the incremental dividend would be €63 million, based on a 7% borrowing cost. These estimates do not account for any effect from renegotiating the contracts.
