The next Board of Telecom Italia, scheduled for tomorrow, Thursday, will in all likelihood be the moment of truth. The change at the top of the Italian telecommunications group is approaching, in fact, later the decision of the European Commission which gave the green light to Vivendi's de facto control over Telecom, conditioning it on the sale of Persidera.
Arnaud de Puyfontaine, CEO of Vivendi and currently vice president of Telecom, should at this point become its president as emerged during the meeting in early May. The decision to suspend the relay was then motivated precisely by the need to await the European decision on the de facto control that Vivendi exercises over Telecom: Vincent Bolloré's French group currently has 10 directors on the board (half of which are independent) out of 15.
The remedy, submitted to the EU on May 4, the day of the Telecom assembly which renewed the board, provided for the commitment to ensure that the Italian group, held for 23,94% of the capital, sells the 70% stake in Persidera, the company that owns the multiplexes (TV channels for digital terrestrial broadcasting) ex La 7 together with the L'Epresso group which conferred its muxes and holds the remaining 30%.
Telecom, however, declared that it knew nothing with a press release that ended up for the attention of the Consob corporate governance offices, and the issue - which has not yet been addressed by the board of directors - was scheduled to be examined by the board at the meeting of 1 June upon request of the board of statutory auditors. The date has now arrived, the decision of the EU Antitrust as well and the change of presidency with the direct entry of the French into the management is in the order of things. The change could also have consequences on Mediaset: the French shareholder must in fact explain to Agcom, by 18 June, how he intends to get his voting rights under 10%. Excluding the possibility that he goes down to Telecom, at this point, the only possible solution is that he does so in the Alfa shareholder base.
