Tim seeks a recovery on the Stock Exchange after the abrupt halt in the share's growth. In Piazza Affari the shares rise by 0,08%, to 52,04 cents, driven by the new endorsement of the anti-Vivendi line carried out by the Elliott Fund. The proxy advisor frontispiece indeed advised to vote against Vivendi's proposals – revocation of five members of the current Elliott-appointed board of directors and reinstatement of the 5 directors ousted in May 2018 – atTim meeting of 29 March. In the middle of the day, the stock falls back also in the wake of press rumors that indicate a board of directors for Thursday in response to the recent decisions of the board of statutory auditors.
Frontis points out that “despite concerns regarding possible asymmetries of information within the board of directors and the lack of independence of directors who attended separate meetings, we have even more serious concerns over Vivendi's attempt to regain control of the Telecom Italia board“. In particular, explains Frontis, “because of the Vivendi's Conflicts of Interest and bad governance practices put into practice as the main shareholder of Telecom Italia: opposition to the elimination of savings shares, appointment of the Chief Value and Efficiency Officer of Vivendi as head of Telecom's Procurement division and approval of transactions with related parties without the necessary procedures”. For this reason "we recommend that shareholders oppose Vivendi's proposals".
Frontis' statement comes the day after thea similar recommendation came from another proxy advisor, Iss. The two reports only further warm up the atmosphere in view of the assembly on 29 March. The same Cassa Depositi has stopped purchases on Tim capital which have now reached 8,7% of the share capital. The market expected them to rise up to 10%, as the group led by Fabrizio Palermo had previously announced. Evidently, however, CDP considers the quota reached sufficient at the moment and has slowed down the pressure on the stock.
Both Iss and Fontis are consultants to whom the funds look to make their voting decisions in the meeting. According to ISS, the reasons why Vivendi's request should not be supported are not so much economic as the fact that continuous changes in top management end up harming the company's management. In other words, better to interrupt the tug of war and take the path of a less bumpy navigation.
