The news was announced but now it's official: the French manager Arnaud de Puyfontaine, CEO of Vivendi, the transalpine telecommunications group main shareholder of Telecom Italia, was today appointed president of the Italian telecommunications company.
De Puyfontaine, as was widely expected, was appointed by the Board of Telecom which has just finished, after about three hours of meeting. The board and the new appointment did not particularly influence the day on the Stock Exchange for Telecom Italia shares, which closed in positive territory, gaining 0,12% to 0,834 euros per share, even if the Ftse Mib, mainly driven by FCA and Ferrari, suggested a larger gain, close to 1%.
The change at the top of the Italian telecommunications group comes after the decision of the European Commission that has given the green light to Vivendi's de facto control of Telecom, conditioning it to the sale of Persidera. The appointment of de Puyfontaine had already been in the air for several weeks, ever since the shareholders' meeting in early May, which had provisionally confirmed Giuseppe Recchi.
“I am happy and honored to have been appointed executive chairman of Telecom Italia – the first words of Arnaud de Puyfontaine leaving the Telecom headquarters at the end of the board meeting -. I know that it is a commitment that will absorb me deeply, but I know I can count on the help of a team of first-rate people and collaborators of the highest professional level. In particular Giuseppe Recchi and Flavio Cattaneo”.
The Telecom Italia board of directors then appointed Recchi as vice president (with vicarious functions), while Flavio Cattaneo remained the company's managing director.
