The consensual divorce between Flavio Cattaneo and Telecom Italia will take place on July 28, after the approval of the accounts for the second quarter of 2017 and after the approval of the half-yearly report by the Board of Directors next Thursday. The following day, Cattaneo will illustrate the results, all growing according to the previews he himself has given in recent weeks. On the 31st he will also lose his position as general manager. Then, the paths of the manager and those of the national TLC group will separate definitively. With an economic agreement worth 25 million euros after 16 months of work on the Telecom Italia dashboard.
The economic agreement was approved by the Board of Directors, after the meeting of the Appointments Committee and with the unfavorable but non-binding opinion of the board of statutory auditors. Around 20 pm on Monday, the official press release: “The agreement provides for the disbursement to Mr. Cattaneo, upon termination of the relationship, of the gross amount of 22.9 million euros by way of transaction referring to the fees due to Mr. Cattaneo on the basis of his contract with the Company, considering in particular the so-called Special Award and the MBO, in relation to the activity already performed as Director and the value that is created on the basis of the data available today. The agreement also provides for the payment to Mr. Cattaneo of the gross amount of 2.1 million euros as consideration for a one-year non-competition, non-solicitation and non-reversal agreement with the main competitors of TIM in Italy and in Brazil, subject to claw-back in case of violation of these obligations (as well as the transfer of some corporate instruments)”.
The Telecom Italia note recalls that the CEO “holds today n. 1.500.000 ordinary shares of the Company”. And he specifies that the CD "has launched the succession plan for the Chief Executive Officer who, with the supervision of the Appointments and Remuneration Committee, will be the subject of further decisions in the meeting already called for 27 July".
Just a few more days and Vivendi, the reference shareholder with 23,9% of the capital, will definitively unveil the new top management structure. After the divorce, the French are determined to move on with two moves: the creation of a triumvirate, which will share the powers of the outgoing CEO and which will be made up of the president Arnaud de Puyfontaine, the vice president Giuseppe Recchi and the new director general, the Israeli Amos Gemish, and the resumption of dialogue with the Government, sanctioned by a recent meeting between Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni and the patron of Vivendi, Vincent Bolloré who promised not to hinder Open Fiber programs on the fibre. Tensions between Telecom and the executive arose precisely from the government's plan to build a fiber optic network capable of ensuring ultra-broadband Internet connections, even in non-commercial areas. Cattaneo unexpectedly changed the plans of the group, ready to take the field and counter the plans of Infratel and Open Fiber (50% Enel and 50% Cdp) and launched the counter-plan Cassiopeia which now “has been frozen“, say sources cited by Reuters. A further signal of détente launched by Vivendi to the Italian government.
The Telecom affair, after 20 years of hardships following privatization, turnarounds, changes in ownership structures and at the top, is not over. The themes of all time are reopened: spin-off of the network (yes or no?), convergence with Mediaset, agreements with the large European groups (from the French Orange to the German Deutsche Telekom). There's a lot of meat on the fire, not all of it will turn into roast. Work in progress: next appointment on July 27th.
