"I hope that the divisions will be overcome and that shareholder Vivendi will review his position". The Telecom Italia shareholders' meeting opens with these words the managing director Luigi Gubitosi, and the invitation was immediately taken up by Caroline Le Masne De Chermont, representing the French shareholder who holds 23,9% of the TLC and who had had the vote for the revocation of five managing directors set on the agenda: “ Vivendi has invested 4 billion in Tim and is interested in restoring harmony, in the interest of all shareholders – said De Chermont -. We had only asked for a change of governance, we are not here to change everything. We want a more independent and transparent board but we are ready to accept the request of Ad Gubitosi”. The revocation of the directors, included in points 6 and 7 of the agenda and on which the shareholders' meeting decided to postpone with 95,35% of votes in favour, was therefore not voted and the easing signal reached the markets very clearly: the Tim share, already immediately after the declarations of Gubitosi and Vivendi, shot up on the Stock Exchange, where it reached 4% just before midday, over 0,56 euro per share, then closing over 2%.
“We are all very satisfied, I the board and the shareholders because you have seen that it was decided with a very high percentage, all the big names voted in favor of eliminating a disputed issue and therefore today was the first step in a long march which we will do together", commented CEO Gubitosi at the end of the meeting, postponing in front of journalists the not so veiled request - by Vivendi - for a renewal of the board in exchange for the renunciation of changing five directors: "No changes are envisaged on the board, who will remain in office until the end of 2021 as planned”, the manager cut short. Vivendi's move was actually already in the air on the eve, given that the French, despite being Telecom's main shareholders with almost 24%, simply did not have the numbers to bring home the desired result, after being 'corner from the takeover of Cdp, which within a year has doubled its stake in the capital of the TLC, going from 4,9 to the current 9,89%.
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Cassa Depositi e Prestiti thus tipped the balance in favor of the US fund Elliott, which holds 9,5% and at the meeting already counted on the support of foreign institutional funds, at the suggestion of the proxy advisors ISS, Frontis and Lewis. With the end of hostilities by Vivendi, the appointment of the five new directors, proposed on the eve of the transalpine company and who would have been Franco Bernabè, Rob van der Valk, Flavia Mazzarella, Gabriele Galateri di Genola and Francesco Vatalaro, also fell through. “Vivendi – added CEO Gubitosi – has a lot to give to Telecom, I hope we can work harmoniouslysplitting again would be wrong. Cohesion will improve over time and I am convinced that a climate of trust will be restored among the members".
In his speech, Gubitosi alluded to the need for “a discontinuity in Tim's management. 2019 will be an important year, we need to focus on executing the business plan. The company must once again be a protagonist of innovation, starting with 5G: Tim has the history and know-how to face this challenge. The agreement with Vodafone but also the discussion with Open Fiber for the network and the agreement reached with the unions go in this direction of growth and innovation. However, many problems remain, starting with the increase in costs, which will have to be cut”. Gubitosi's plan envisages returning to full profitability by the end of the plan, in 2021: Ebitda, in 2018, was 7,4 billion, practically halved compared to 13 billion in 2006, the last year of Italian industrial management. Net debt, which in 2018 was still above 25 billion, it will have to be reduced by at least three billion in two years. After the truce collected during the meeting, Telecom will finally be able to deepen the discussion of the single network, already entered into with Open Fiber, half-owned by Enel and not coincidentally half-owned by the CDP itself which helped to neutralize the hostile ambitions of Vivendi and which has one of its explicit objectives in the new infrastructure.
Article updated at 19 pm on Friday 29 March.
