KKR & Co. has invited the Public Investment Fund to join its proposed acquisition of Telecom Italia.
Telecom Italia paired with DAZN in July 2021 to gain domestic rights to Serie A in a three-year, $1.1 billion deal.
KKR made its initial takeover bid in November, triggering a 38% increase in Telecom Italia’s stock.
The Turin-based company has kept most of those gains and had a market capitalization of around $10.9 billion as of Tuesday.
The PIF has had a growing presence in sports and gaming. It’s reportedly close to acquiring Serie A’s Inter Milan for $1 billion and bought the Premier League’s Newcastle for $409 million in October 2021 after 18 months of clearing regulatory hurdles.
The fund, with over $430 billion in assets, also has heavy investments in gaming, with $2.9 billion invested in Activision Blizzard, $2 billion in Electronic Arts, and $869 million in Take-Two Interactive as of Sept. 30, 2021.
