The Italian government could force Telecom Italia (TIM) to sell its strategic Sparkle and Telsy units due to the increasing influence of the company's leading shareholder, French media giant Vivendi, reports La Repubblica. Legal advisers to Italy's prime minister are certain that TIM's international operator Sparkle and security-focused ICT subsidiary Telsy are under Vivendi's full control, with Sparkle considered a particularly sensitive asset because of its 560,000 kilometers of undersea cables capable of connecting to countries such as Iran or Israel. Telsy became part of Telecom Italia in 1990 and provides encrypted communications systems and software to customers such as the Italian army and government.
The report said the key role of the units in Italy’s national security could force the government to apply the so-called ‘Golden Power’ law of 2012 to veto any changes in control or ownership in companies considered a strategic asset. The government is investigating whether Vivendi effectively controls TIM and its legal experts believe the French company's acknowledgement that it has “direction and coordination” of TIM goes beyond mere control, added the paper.
Earlier this month Vivendi said it considered it had no "de facto control" over TIM under Article 93 of the Consolidated Law on Finance and Article 2359 of the Italian Civil Code.
