According to two sources familiar with the situation, Telecom Italia’s biggest investor, Vivendi, wants to play a stronger role at Italy’s largest telecoms business, casting doubt on CEO Luigi Gubitosi’s status after two earnings warnings in a matter of months.
They noted that Vivendi (VIV.PA), which owns a 23.8 percent interest in Telecom Italia (TIM) (TLIT.MI), wants to talk to the Italian government about relaunching the company and extracting value from its critical landline grid.
Vivendi declined to comment, but stated that it is committed to TIM’s long-term success.
Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP), an Italian state lender, is TIM’s second-largest shareholder, with a 9.8% stake built up over the years to monitor the company’s network assets, which are considered strategic by Italian authorities.
Vivendi has succeeded to arrange an extraordinary board meeting on Nov. 11 after expressing its unhappiness at a board meeting last week, sources said, piling pressure on Gubitosi to reorganise TIM and turn around the company.
