During the Telecom Italia meeting taking place in Rozzano, the executive chairman Franco Bernabé takes a step in the direction of the shareholder Marco Fossati (Findim) who wants to eliminate the majority premium in the appointment of the board of directors. A sign of coldness with the relative majority shareholder Telco (46,18% controlled by Telefonica), Intesa Sanpaolo and Mediobanca, 11,62% each, and Generali (30,58%) which today has the majority of the meeting by a few votes.
The request for a governance review this is how it is on the table of the Telecom offices that will have to evaluate the modification of the statute. “It is a need felt by the shareholders and, for my part, it is considered worthy of attention. I asked the offices for a feasibility study for amending the bylaws, without prejudice to the regulatory framework,” Bernabè said at the opening of the session.
The shareholders' meeting for the approval of the financial statements, dividends and share plan for employees takes place in the Rozzano auditorium and 44,4% of the ordinary share capital is present. Marco Fossati's Findim holds approximately 4,9% of the capital.
The meeting comes as Telecom moves towards a turning point for one's future: on the table is the question of network separation and one possible integration with 3 Italia of the Hutchison Whampoa groupconditional on the latter becoming the first shareholder. To evaluate the merger in recent days, which would also have repercussions on the shareholder Telco, the Telecom board had decided to set up a committee made up of four directors to work alongside the executive chairman Bernabè. Who has no doubts: to overcome the crisis in the telecommunications sector and more generally to get out of the economic climate that shows no signs of improving, it takes discontinuity actions and the two extraordinary operations "represent important opportunities that could improve the prospects of both sectors".
NETWORK SEPARATION AND 3 ITALIA IMPORTANT OPPORTUNITIES
On the project front telecom network separation, the possible agreement with Cassa Depositi e Prestiti "would involve the advantage of resources contributed by Cdp which would allow a significant acceleration of the development plans for the new generation networks envisaged in the industrial plan", Bernabé explained to shareholders.
While integration with 3 Italia would lead to industrial synergies and cost reductions in terms of commercial structures and development of the LTE network: "Any brakes or obstacles to the natural process of consolidation would lead to a further delay in the development of LTE networks" said Bernabè "on which Europe registers already a strong lag compared to the United States”.
"I believe that there may be positive elements in continuing the discussion, it will be up to the council plenum to decide - said Bernabè - No decisions have been made on the matter, there is a committee that will take charge of assessing whether it is worth continuing the discussion".
ASATI REQUESTS THE DUAL SYSTEM AND THE PRESENCE OF A REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ASSOCIATIONS
If Fossati of Findim has also asked for a review of governance by the association of small shareholders, Asati, which brings together small shareholders, has announced its intention to propose a motion to amend the Articles of Association, although the topic was not included in the agenda. The goal is to introduce a system dual, judged more consistent "with a broadly distributed shareholding structure", in particular a system that envisages a Management Board and a Supervisory Board, both elected with a criterion proportional to the shareholdings. Asati also asked that the presence of a member expressed by the shareholders' associations, duly accredited by Consob, (with a minimum of 1.000 members) and also the modification of article 22 of the statute which regulates the golden share, be ensured. On this point Bernabè specified that Telecom cannot intervene autonomously by modifying its statute, it will necessarily have to adapt to the decree.
Then responding to Fossati's criticisms, Bernabé recalls that in his management he has chosen "not to use financial shortcuts", those shortcuts (such as the purchase of Tim's minorities) which have been resorted to in the past and to which it is possible to attribute some problems of the society. In addition of course to the Telecom-Olivetti merger which put a debt of 36 billion on the shoulders of the company against a turnover of 29.
On the Telecom Stock Exchange, it rose by 0,41% to 0,6155. Bernabé also addressed those who are suffering losses and ensured that the management is laying the foundations for great satisfaction in the future: "If we had wanted to find consensus or short-term success, we would have made other choices".
