Italian state lender CDP has spent over EUR 960 million to increase its stake in Telecom Italia (TIM) to around 8.7 percent, according to a SEC filing. The state holding now has over 1.32 million TIM shares and is reportedly determined to reach a 10 percent stake ahead of a key shareholder vote on the composition of TIM’s board on 29 March. The meeting will see shareholders vote on a request by leading shareholder Vivendi to remove five board members appointed by US activist fund Elliott on grounds of what the French company claims is a “substantial lack of independence”.
Elliott seized control of TIM’s board of directors in May 2018, when 10 of its proposed candidates were appointed thanks in part to the support of CDP’s 5 percent stake. The US investor owns just under 10 percent of TIM and has published a detailed presentation and a website (www.Time-For-TIM.com) urging shareholders to continue backing its plans. Shareholders face “a choice between stability and the continued recovery of company value, or a return to Vivendi’s poor stewardship with its broken promises, track record of prolonged and pervasive value destruction, and contempt for good governance,” said the activist fund.
