According to various Italian press reports, the Libyan Post, Telecommunication and IT Company (LPTIC) has taken control of Italy-based telecoms infrastructure firm Retelit, via its Bousval holding company. Bousval holds a 14.79% stake in Retelit, but has teamed up with a consortium of smaller shareholders who hold around 10% of the company’s equity between them. Prior to this week’s boardroom manoeuvring, Retelit was controlled by a syndicate formed by Sirti (11.4%), Selin (9.6%) and HBC (4.6%). Sirti representatives opted not to attend the shareholder meeting, effectively giving the green light to the Libyans to seize control.
Retelit is one of the leading Italian providers of data services and infrastructure for the telecoms market, and has been listed since 2000 on the Milan Stock Exchange. The company owns a proprietary fibre-optic network which stretches over 7,432km and connects eight metropolitan networks and 19 data centres across Italy.