Telecom Italia (TIM) has confirmed that its former chief executive Amos Genish has resigned from the company’s board around eight months after being ousted and then replaced by current CEO Luigi Gubitosi. In a statement TIM said Canal+ Group deputy CEO for France Frank Cadoret had replaced Genish as board representative for the operator’s main shareholder, French media group Vivendi. TIM said Genish would be paid the lump sum of EUR 4.2 million within 30 days “in light of the mutual renunciation of any reciprocal claim or dispute in relation to the past employment relationship between the parties.”
The company also expressed the hope that the unanimous appointment of Cadoret could lead to a subsequent agreement between its top shareholders on “shared and stable governance”. Vivendi and Elliott have been at loggerheads for well over a year over how to revive TIM after the US fund seized control of the board of directors in May 2018. Elliott has called for a full spinoff of TIM's landline network to help pare down debt, an idea that Vivendi has so far resisted, while Gubitosi has pushed for some form of tie-up with fixed line rival Open Fiber.
In a statement released following the meeting, TIM said the board welcomed the renewed dialogue and “wishes for the continuation and strengthening of such dialogue between shareholders.”
