TIM chairman Conti steps down to ease shareholder tension

The chairman of Telecom Italia (TIM), Fulvio Conti, has handed in his resignation a couple of weeks after confirming that he was prepared to step down from his position to ease tensions among the operator’s shareholders. In a statement, TIM said Conti announced at the end of a board meeting that he had taken the decision in the belief that he had completed his mandate and “in light of the stability achieved by the board in its operations and the renewed focus on creation of sustainable value for all the company’s stakeholders.” 

Conti’s resignation comes as no surprise following his comments earlier this month that he was considering the move in view of a “renewed climate of trust and collaboration within the board and between the shareholders.” Two of TIM’s leading shareholders – France’s Vivendi and Elliott Management – have been at loggerheads ever since the US fund seized control of the company’s board of directors in May 2018. Earlier this year Vivendi called for the removal of Conti and four other Elliott-appointed directors on grounds of a “substantial lack of independence”, a motion it ultimately dropped just ahead of a shareholders meeting held in March. 

The board will meet again on 21 October to discuss the appointment of Conti’s successor, with board member Michele Valensise taking on the chairman role on an interim basis in the meantime. Two unnamed sources told Reuters that a short list of candidates for the job has already been drawn up but that no decision has yet been taken. 

Other reports have suggested that Conti's resignation could also open the way for a conversion of TIM's savings shares into ordinary ones, a move blocked by Vivendi back in 2015.