MILAN—France's Vivendi SA requested four seats on the board of Italy's Telecom Italia, in a move aimed at exerting greater influence over the Italian telecom company and outmaneuvering another French investor who has recently taken a sizable stake in the group.

Telecom Italia said Sunday evening it had received a request by Vivendi to name the four representatives to its board its group's next shareholder meeting, scheduled for Dec. 15. The French group, the largest shareholder in the Italian firm, also said it would propose expanding Telecom Italia's board from 13 to 17 members.

The four representatives proposed by Vivendi are Arnaud Roy de Puyfontaine, Vivendi's chief executive; Stephane Roussel, the company's chief operating officer; Hervé Philippe, its chief financial officer; and Felicité Herzog.

Vivendi, controlled by French businessman Vincent Bolloré , steadily built its stake in Telecom Italia over the summer to become the Italian company's largest shareholder. It currently has no board seats.

If appointed, the new board members will remain in office until Dec. 2016, when the board's tenure is due to expire.

The news comes a couple of weeks after Xavier Niel, founder of French telecom operator Iliad SA, had bought options that, if exercised would give him a 15% stake in Telecom Italia.

However, soon after Mr. Niel's stake was announced, Telecom Italia presented a share conversion plan that appeared as a defensive move. Yet when announcing the plan, the operator said that it aims at increasing free float and simplify its capital structure.

The plan, which shareholders will take up at their December meeting, would see the conversion of the company's savings shares—which have no voting rights and command a lower price—into ordinary stock, which have voting rights.

The share conversion would provide Telecom Italia with a €500 million cash injection and would dilute the stakes of current shareholders, including Vivendi's current 20% which would go down to just below 14%. But the French company will still be the largest single shareholder in the Italian firm.

The conversion plan would also dilute Mr. Niel's holdings.

Last week, Mr. de Puyfontaine said the French firm had increased its stake earlier this year in Telecom Italia in part to offset any dilution from an eventual share conversion, which has been mooted by analysts for some time.

Speaking at a conference in Barcelona last week, Telecom Italia CEO Marco Patuano hinted he would be open to seeing Vivendi—which has said its investment is aimed at encouraging a tie up with the Italian company to distribute its content—join the board.

"Whoever will be a long-term investor, I would prefer to have long-term investors sit on the board than sit on the back seat," he said.

Write to Manuela Mesco at manuela.mesco@wsj.com

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 15, 2015 21:25 ET (02:25 GMT)

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