
French media giant Vivendi and activist fund Elliott have presented their lists of candidates for the board of Telecom Italia (TIM) ahead of a shareholder vote on 04 May. Vivendi’s list of 10 candidates is led by current TIM CEO Amos Genish, with Vivendi CEO Arnaud de Puyfontaine proposed as non-executive chairman and including former TIM CEO Franco Bernabe as one of 5 independent candidates. “In putting forward this list, we have listened carefully to the views of shareholders and other key stakeholders,” said de Puyfontaine in a statement.
Elliott’s rival slate of 10 candidates for the board includes Fiat Chrysler manager Alfredo Altavilla, former Facebook executive Paola Bonomo, former News Corp CEO Lucia Morselli and Monte dei Paschi manager Maria Elena Cappello. All 10 candidates have declared themselves as independent. Italian fund association Assogestioni announced that it had finally decided not to present a list of candidates.
Elliott’s mid-March request for board changes at the company’s 24 April AGM resulted in 8 Vivendi-nominated board members resigning a week later, triggering a vote on a full board renewal at another shareholder meeting called for 04 May. However, TIM has now vowed to take legal action to prevent the vote on board candidates on 24 April.