Poste Italiane Owns 86.95% of Telecom Italia After Delisting Bid Falls Short of 90% Threshold

Key Facts

Poste Italiane held 86.95% of Telecom Italia’s capital as of October 2, 2026, after completing its takeover offer and making subsequent purchases, according to an S&P assessment published on October 21. The company remains listed after the offer failed to reach the 90% threshold that a Reuters report cited as the level that would have allowed it to be delisted. Poste said that, after the acceptance period was reopened, the offer brought its stake to 85.823%, and the transaction was settled on October 2. That places the offer result and post-offer purchases in two separate stages of the ownership increase. The reported timing for a delisting in 2029 could not be verified against the original statement attributed to Chief Executive Matteo Del Fante, so the date cannot be confirmed or treated as a definitively announced plan.

The offer’s stated goal in March 2026 was to acquire all of Telecom Italia’s capital and delist its shares from Euronext Milan, with the deal expected to be completed by the end of that year, according to Poste Italiane’s 2025 annual report. But the final offer result reported by the group remained below the 90% threshold discussed in the Reuters report, leaving the company’s shares on the market. Poste said its stake after the offer was reopened reached 85.823%, before the offer was settled on October 2. S&P then showed that the stake had risen to 86.95% as of that date following subsequent purchases. These figures show the difference between the offer’s proceeds and the later total ownership, and make clear that reaching the stated goal requires completing the acquisition process.

Alongside the increase in its stake, Poste began exercising direction and coordination activities over Telecom Italia after its board approved the rules governing them, according to TG Poste. The mechanism includes aligning strategic objectives and industrial and administrative policies, as well as integrating expertise and coordinating activities between the two companies. Poste said centralized management of activities and functional coordination aim to achieve economies of scale and improve operational efficiency. The rules also affirmed the preservation of the legal independence of Telecom Italia and its subsidiaries. Institutional integration is therefore advancing through unified direction and policies, while the company continues to exist as a separate legal entity.

Poste estimated that the group’s combined revenue after the merger would exceed 27 billion euros and that it would have 150,000 employees, according to Corriere della Sera. The estimate reflects the scale of the group Poste aims to build by adding the telecommunications company to its operations. This comes as the relationship between the two companies moves from a takeover offer alone to a phase of administrative and industrial coordination. These figures remain estimates for the integrated group after the merger, rather than operating results achieved in the current period. The expected scale provides economic context for the integration process, while full ownership and delisting remain goals that have yet to be achieved.

In its credit assessment issued on October 21, S&P affirmed Poste Italiane’s long-term and short-term ratings at "BBB+/A-2," with a positive outlook, after the acquisition of its stake in Telecom Italia was completed. The decision provides a recent credit indicator following the increase in ownership, but does not change the fact that the stock remains listed or that the stake is still below full ownership. In its offer announcement, Poste had set the goal of acquiring all of Telecom Italia’s shares and delisting them from Euronext Milan, with the deal expected to be completed by the end of 2026. The date attributed to Del Fante for a delisting in 2029 cannot be confirmed from the original interview text available among the facts. The documented course therefore remains a continued increase in ownership and the start of institutional coordination, without a confirmed delisting date.