TIA TELECOM ITALIA SPA CL A

   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)

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