French Media Group Vivendi believes KKR's offer of around €22.5 billion to acquire Telecom Italia's (TIM) landline network significantly undervalues the business and any sale of the network would be a strategic mistake, according to a report by the Financial Times.

French Media Group Vivendi believes KKR's offer of around €22.5 billion to acquire Telecom Italia's (TIM) landline network significantly undervalues the business and any sale of the network would be a strategic mistake, according to a report by the Financial Times.

Vivendi, TIM's biggest shareholder with a 23.75% stake in the business and more than 17% of voting rights, argues the network's value is more than €30 billion.

With KKR confirmed to be in exclusive talks with TIM over a deal, the FT cites unnamed sources as saying that Vivendi, which has spent more than €4bn building its stake in TIM since 2015, is digging in to fight the sale.

"If you separate the network from the rest of the company it’s a dead man walking,” one source said.