Vivendi won a dual victory at yesterday’s Telecom Italia shareholder meeting, ensuring that it will play a central role in the company’s future strategy.
Vivendi (EPA:VIV) won a dual victory at yesterday’s Telecom Italia (BIT:TIT) shareholder meeting, ensuring that it will play a central role in the company’s future strategy.
The French media conglomerate abstained from a vote on the Italian incumbent’s proposal to convert savings shares into ordinary stock, a move that would have raised up to €570m (US$618m) while also diluting Vivendi’s shareholding from the current 20.1% to less than 14%.
This abstention, and the requirement of a two-thirds majority, meant the proposal did not pass. In a statement, Telecom Italia said that 62.5% of the attending share capital voted in favour, 1.5% of the attending share capital voted against, and 36.1% of the attending share capital abstained.
Some 55.67% of the company’s share capital attended the meeting.
In a second vote during an ordinary session of the meeting, the Vincent Bolloré-headed group’s proposal to add four board seats – to be held by its own nominees – passed by a simple majority.
Vivendi will now control 24% of the board, a greater proportion than its share ownership, as highlighted by voting proxy service ISS, which had advised that shareholders vote against the proposal.
As such, the number of board seats will rise from 13 to 17, with the four new seats to be filled by Vivendi CEO Arnaud de Puyfontaine, COO Stéphane Roussel, CFO Hervé Philippe and French consultant Félicité Herzog.
Telecom Italia CEO Marco Patuano recently told a parliamentary hearing that the company was on track to raise €3bn in 2016 through the savings share conversion plan, sale of Telecom Argentina, and further sell-down of tower spin-off Inwit.
Also key to Telecom Italia’s strategy will be Italy’s US$12bn high-speed broadband deployment and a potential exit from Brazil, where it owns a majority of TIM Brasil.
A further unknown is the intention of telecoms billionaire Xavier Niel, who has options to acquire 15% of the incumbent. JP Morgan, meanwhile, has amassed a stake of 10.1%, which some observers have speculated may be on behalf of Niel. Another French group, Orange, has also been linked to takeover interest.