Telecom Italia Shareholders Approve Vivendi Board Members --Update
December 15 2015 - 12:41PM
Dow Jones News
By Giada Zampano
MILAN--Shareholders in Telecom Italia Spa approved on Tuesday a
request from France's Vivendi SA to obtain four seats on the board
of the Italian operator, in a surprise move that would give Telecom
Italia's largest shareholder greater influence over the company's
strategy.
At Telecom Italia's shareholders meeting, 52.9% of the
shareholders voted in favor of the proposal to expand the company's
board from 13 to 17 members, while 45.7% voted against, and 1.4%
abstained.
The four representatives proposed by Vivendi are Arnaud Roy de
Puyfontaine, Vivendi's chief executive; Stephane Roussel, the
company's chief operating officer; Herve Philippe, its chief
financial officer; and Felicite Herzog.
During a speech to Telecom Italia's shareholders earlier
Tuesday, Vivendi Chief Executive Arnaud de Puyfontaine emphasized
that the French media company has a long-term, strategic interest
in Telecom Italia--one that deserves board representation.
"We are here for a long-term, industrial investment and not for
financial reasons," he said.
Vivendi--controlled by French industrialist Vincent Bolloré
--has spent more than EUR3 billion to acquire the 20% stake in
Telecom Italia.
Telecom Italia has suffered for years from a turnover of major
shareholders, a lack of clear strategy and fierce competition in
its domestic market.
Earlier Tuesday, Vivendi blocked a share conversion plan sought
by Telecom Italia's management, at a divisive shareholders meeting
where tensions between the Italian telecoms giant and its largest
shareholder spilled out into the open.
As expected, the French company abstained in a vote on a plan to
convert Telecom Italia's saving shares into ordinary stock. Under
the plan, Vivendi's 20% stake in the Italian telecom operator would
have been diluted to about 13%, while Telecom Italia would have
received EUR500 million ($549.8 million) in cash.
In recent days, Vivendi had warned that it would abstain,
requesting more time to study the conditions of the conversion
plan. It argued the cash payment for Telecom Italia's savings
shares under the plan was insufficient. Telecom Italia's top
management had defended the conversion, stressing that its terms
were defined with the help of outside advisers .
On Tuesday, the plan didn't receive the two-thirds of the vote
it needed to pass. It was approved by only 62.5% of the
shareholders who attended the meeting near Milan, while 36%,
including Vivendi, abstained and 1.5% voted against the plan.
Write to Giada Zampano at giada.zampano@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 15, 2015 12:26 ET (17:26 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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