Vivendi Gains A Voice At Telecom Italia Table
December 16 2015 - 3:03AM
Dow Jones News
(FROM THE WALL STREET JOURNAL 12/16/15)
By Giada Zampano
MILAN -- French media company Vivendi SA secured four seats on
Telecom Italia SpA's board, winning a battle to gain greater
influence at the struggling telecom operator.
Almost 53% of Telecom Italia shareholders approved Vivendi's
request to increase the number of the company's board members to 17
from 13 and appoint four directors representing the French
company.
Vivendi also blocked a share-conversion plan proposed by Telecom
Italia's management that would have heavily diluted Vivendi's
stake.
Tuesday's vote on the board appointments will give Vivendi,
which is Telecom Italia's largest shareholder, a stronger say over
the strategy of the heavily indebted Italian operator, suffering
for years from fierce competition in its domestic market and a
continued turnover of top shareholders.
The four Vivendi directors will be Arnaud de Puyfontaine,
Vivendi's chief executive; Stephane Roussel, chief operating
officer; Herve Philippe, its finance chief; and Felicite
Herzog.
Controlled by French industrialist Vincent Bollore, Vivendi has
spent more than 3 billion euros ($3.29 billion) to acquire a 20%
stake in Telecom Italia. That investment has made it Telecom
Italia's largest shareholder but Vivendi had no directors until
now.
Vivendi won't change Telecom Italia's strategy much in the short
term but could look to sell and distribute its content to the
Italian company's customers, a person familiar with the matter
said.
On Sunday, Mr. de Puyfontaine said he was "absolutely in favor"
of plans to improve Italy's broadband Internet infrastructure.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 16, 2015 02:48 ET (07:48 GMT)
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