The Vivendi-Telecom affair gets to the heart of it, and the Italian government intervenes directly in the case. In fact, Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni intervened in person, saying that "the government is ready to trigger the golden power on the Sparkle network, to protect Tim's interests". Thus the technicians of the French group are working with those of Palazzo Chigi to find a solution that leads to the presentation of the notification by the French media company regarding the influence on Tim, but in the meantime Gentiloni made it clear - during a hearing at the Copasir - that "Sparkle is strategic" and that he wants to use the formula to block or impose conditions on operations that affect Italy's strategic interests.
The golden power committee at the Prime Minister's Office is verifying whether the French group, owner of 23,9% of Telecom, exercises control of the company that owns sensitive assets such as the national network and that of Sparkle. If control were ascertained, the government could sanction Vivendi for failing to communicate in advance that it had taken over de facto control and decide precisely whether to use the powers linked to the golden power. In fact, the submission of the notification had to be made by August 7, and now it should among other things be preceded by a reopening of the terms for this procedure, which initially expired more than a month ago and were then extended. No comment for now from Vivendi: although they remain of the opinion that the notification is not necessary the French group would be willing to proceed in this direction to dissolve at least this part of the complex Italian match, in which, among other things, it risks a very heavy fine. But Gentiloni played in advance.
Therefore, Vivendi will hardly be able to avoid the risk of heavy penalties. And the group chaired by Vincent Bolloré, which has already been called into question by Fininvest and Mediaset for failure to purchase Mediaset Premium and had a 3 billion claim for damages, he also can't afford a 300 million fine from the Italian government.
After all, the game is broad and articulated it goes far beyond the notification and also plays on the strategic assets of the telephone group. The
The Vivendi-Tim issue includes the Mediaset dossier and takes place in a political scenario made more delicate by the events of Fincantieri-Stx. A front on which progress is being made, judging by the latest declarations from Paris and Rome, after the meeting between Padoan, Le Maire and Calenda: the improvement could mean the strengthening of Italy-France relations and therefore a good encouragement also for Vivendi. Tim.
The spotlights are now on the next meeting of the Italian Prime Minister, Paolo Gentiloni, and of the French Prime Minister, Emanuel Macron who they will meet in Lyon on 27 September. Meanwhile, on Thursday for the French group there is another important appointment: the Agcom board is meeting to discuss the plan presented by Vivendi to comply with the Authority's resolution which imposes a reduction in the shares in the subsidiaries Mediaset or Tim.
