The highly anticipated assembly of Team of April 23rd will decide with the new board of directors the very future of the first Italian telephone company without the network, destined to land in the hands of the American fund KKR and mef. There are three lists in the field: that of the outgoing Board of Directors headed by the CEO, Peter Labriola, the architect of the sale of the network to deal with the debts that have weighed down the telephone company for a quarter of a century due to the unfortunate debt takeover bid of 1999, that of the fWave Merlyn who proposes a Tim stew and nominates the former manager Stefano Siragusa for the Ad chair and that of the Bluebell fund by Giuseppe Bivona who winks at the French of Vivendi, the restless first shareholders of the company, nominating the French Laurence Lafont as CEO.
Its Vivendi, with its 23,7% in the portfolio, could have been the deciding factor at the meeting, for which a participation of 60% of the capital is expected. His vote could shift the balance of the assembly even if Labriola has the support of the CDP (second largest shareholder of Tim with 9,8%)l, of Assogestioni, of Asati (small shareholders) and of important international funds of the caliber of BlackRock, Amundi, Norges Bank and Vanguard and many others. Realism, however, ended up inspiring Vivendi's moves which, after having contested the sale of the network for a long time, especially due to the price, has now understood that shaking Tim and going against the orientation of the Meloni Government itself would not be a wise choice and would end to damage its own interests. In fact, the official pronouncement arrived yesterday evening: today at the meeting Vivendi will abstain, effectively paving the way for the Labriola list, even if it will not withdraw the appeals. “As a financial investor, Vivendi – reads an official note from the French group – is concerned that the Board and management of Tim guarantee long-lasting growth in the share price through management decisions in the interests of the company, respectful of the prerogatives of the shareholders and of the principles of good governance". Vivendi reiterates its reasons for dissent towards Labriola and the outgoing management and for this reason it will not vote for the list of the Board of Directors but will abstain and will bring forward its appeal to the Court of Milan against the resolutions which decided on the sale of the network at a price considered too low and without referring the decision to a meeting. However, barring last-minute surprises, the game is over.
