Telecom Italia CEO Meets With Top Shareholder, Vivendi
March 03 2016 - 3:11PM
Dow Jones News
By Manuela Mesco and Nick Kostov
Telecom Italia SpA Chief Executive Marco Patuano traveled to
Paris on Wednesday to meet with top management at Vivendi SA, as
the Italian telecommunications operator's top shareholder applies
more pressure on the executive to deliver a turnaround, a person
familiar with the matter said Thursday.
Vivendi, a French media company, has plowed some EUR3.5 billion,
or about $3.8 billion, into Telecom Italia and is pushing Mr.
Patuano to cut costs faster and address such strategic challenges
as whether the company should pursue a sale of its Brazil unit,
people familiar with the matter said.
Vivendi will start agitating for Mr. Patuano's departure if
results don't improve and the management of Telecom Italia fails to
align with the wishes of the French company, these people said.
"As you can imagine, Vivendi isn't here to support a
steady-as-she-goes strategy," one of the people said.
The Italian firm is under pressure to deliver results after
years of no revenue growth and strategic zigzagging. Vivendi, which
held 23.8% of Telecom Italia on Feb. 29, has been exerting more
influence over the Italian firm's strategy since it gained four
seats in Telecom Italia's board in December.
Write to Manuela Mesco at manuela.mesco@wsj.com and Nick Kostov
at Nick.Kostov@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 03, 2016 14:56 ET (19:56 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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