Vivendi Names Telecom Italia Board Candidates; Italy's CDP to Buy Telecom Italia Stake
April 06 2018 - 2:43AM
Dow Jones News
By Pietro Lombardi
Vivendi SA (VIV.FR) late on Thursday announced its candidates
for Telecom Italia SpA's (TIT.MI) board, as Italy's
state-controlled lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, or CDP, also
Thursday approved its plan to take a stake in the Italian telecoms
company.
CDP said that its board has greenlighted an investment in
Telecom Italia. It will gradually build a stake of up to 5% in the
company, it said. The investment has "a long-term perspective" and
is consistent with its mission to support the country's strategic
infrastructures, it said.
Vivendi proposed a list of 10 candidates for the Telecom Italia
board, led by Telecom Italia Chief Executive Amos Genish. Five of
the candidates "are fully independent" under the terms of Italian
regulations, the French company said. The proposal comes amid a
power struggle with activist investor Elliott Management that led
to the resignation of Telecom Italia's chairman and other members
of the board.
"Amos Genish has the full support of Vivendi for the execution
of the 2018-2020 industrial plan," Vivendi said.
The second name on the list is Vivendi's Chief Executive, and
outgoing executive chairman of Telecom Italia, Arnaud de
Puyfontaine. Vivendi is proposing Mr. de Puyfontaine as
non-executive chairman.
"In putting forward this list, we have listened carefully to the
views of shareholders and other key stakeholders. We have made
changes to strengthen the technical competence of the board as well
as drawing on a wider range of expertise and opinions. We are
confident that all shareholders will support the new board, the
management and the strategy," Mr. de Puyfontaine said.
The list will be presented at the shareholders' meeting of May
4, Vivendi said.
The other candidates are Franco Bernabe--proposed as
vice-chairman in charge of security--, Marella Moretti, Frederic
Crepin, Michele Valensise, Giuseppina Capaldo, Anna Jones, Camilla
Antonini, and Stephane Roussel.
Vivendi holds almost 24% of Telecom Italia.
Telecom Italia's chairman and other members of the board
announced their resignation on March 22, forcing a reshuffling. The
move was criticized by Elliott, which has built a stake of more
than 5% in Telecom, as an attempt to delay acting on its proposed
changes for the company. The activist investor has pushed for a
management shake-up and strategic changes, including calling for
Telecom to sell part of its network operation and dispose or sell
part of subsea cable unit Sparkle.
Write to Pietro Lombardi at pietro.lombardi@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 06, 2018 02:28 ET (06:28 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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