Vivendi, TIM's largest shareholder, is widely reportedly to want its CEO to chair the company, and while it didn't explicitly state this, Italian corporate convention often reserves this role for the first name on the list.
Second on Vivendi's list of 10 candidates for the board was the its own chief financial officer, Herve Philippe, while current TIM chairman Giuseppe Recchi was fourth and the Italian company's CEO Flavio Cattaneo fifth.
In total, Vivendi proposed three members from its own board, two from TIM's and five independents. One of the independents, Franco Bernabe, was TIM CEO from 2008-11. The company also confirmed it wants to cut the number of board members to 15 from the current 16.
According to press reports, Vivendi, with a 23.94 percent stake in TIM has informed the European Commission that the shareholder meeting may hand it de facto control of the Italian company as it secures two-thirds of the proposed number of seats. An EU Commission spokesman told Reuters it had received a notification from Vivendi and would rule on the matter by 12 May.
Vivendi reportedly believes de Puyfontaine's arrival as chairman would lead to Cattaneo's departure, but the Italian CEO said last week that said he intends to retain his role no matter who shareholders choose to appoint as the firm's next chairman.
An audit of Telecom Italia commissioned by Italian market regulator Consob found that Vivendi is already in a position to influence other board members and the watchdog is concerned that the French company's stake-building in key Italian communication companies could contravene antitrust rules. The TIM stake is valued at around EUR 3.03 billion and Vivendi has built also a near 30 percent stake in Mediaset since December.
Communications regulator Agcom is due to rule at the end of April on whether Vivendi is abusing its dominant position in the communications sector and needs to divest some of its shares in the two companies.
The slate of 10 candidates proposed by Vivendi follows a list of five indpendent candidates filed last week by a group of asset management companies and international investors with a declared total shareholding of approximately 1.86 percent.
