Unwinding the investors’ holdings could take six months and, after the Italian partners have left, Telefonica would directly own around 15 percent of Telecom Italia. Telco was until recently able to appoint a majority of board members but Telecom Italia changed its corporate governance practices earlier this year and appointed a largely independent board under pressure from minority shareholders, above all the Findim group of 5 percent shareholder Marco Fossati.
The unravelling of the Telco group could open the way to new investors, including so-called activist shareholders, such as US funds BlackRock and Amber Capital, which already hold stakes in Telecom Italia. The Italian operator's chairman Giuseppe Recchi recently told Reuters that such investors were welcome if they took a long-term view, rather than merely seeking quick profits. “There is room for activists in Italy as long as they have constructive proposals,” he said.
