Telecom Italia’s (TI) controlling shareholder group Telco has said that it will meet on 19 December ahead of a shareholder meeting on 20 December where investors will have the opportunity to remove TI’s board.
Telco – controlled by Telefonica…
Telecom Italia’s (TI) controlling shareholder group Telco has said that it will meet on 19 December ahead of a shareholder meeting on 20 December where investors will have the opportunity to remove TI’s board.
Telco – controlled by Telefonica along with Assicurazioni Generali, Intesa Sanpaolo, and Mediobanca – said it would discuss a possible list of replacements should board members be ejected and how many directors there should be.
In mid-October holding company Findim, TI’s third largest shareholder with around 5%, called an EGM to remove members representing Telco from the board of the Italian incumbent.
Its CEO Marco Fossati has reportedly proposed a list of candidates to take over as directors. Vito Gamberale, head of investment fund F2i, and Franco Lombardi, head of retail Telecom Italia shareholders group Asati, are both on the list according to Reuters.
The move to remove TI’s board has gained traction recently after respected proxy advisory firms ISS and Glass Lewis both recommended shareholders vote with Fossati.
Findim and small shareholders group Asati have strongly criticised the telco’s current board and their new strategic plan, arguing it prioritises the interests of larger shareholders.
Fossati’s investment vehicle is now TI’s third largest shareholder, behind Telco and BlackRock. Telco has a 22.4% stake in TI and said in November that it would vote against Findim’s motion. US investment fund BlackRock yesterday clarified the size of its stake in Telecom Italia after previously disclosing a 10.14% holding in TI. Under Italian rules financial regulator Consob must be notified if an investor crosses a 10% ownership threshold.
In a new SEC filing, BlackRock said its stake in TI was actually 9.97%. The firm said that its original disclosure had been “an inadvertent overstatement”, multiple reports said.
