Vivendi Presses on Telecom Italia to Appoint New Financial Auditors, Replace Five Directors
15 December 2018 - 7:52AM
Dow Jones News
By Maria Armental
Vivendi SA on Friday asked Telecom Italia SpA's board to call a
shareholders' meeting to appoint new financial auditors and replace
five board members backed by Elliott Management Corp.
The French media group, Telecom Italia's largest shareholder, is
seeking to replace board chairman Fulvio Conti, along with
directors Alfredo Altavilla, Massimo Ferrari, Dante Roscini and
Paola Giannotti de Ponti with Franco Bernabè, Gabriele Galateri di
Genola, Rob Van der Valk, Flavia Mazzarella and Francesco
Vatalaro.
The five Elliott-backed directors, Vivendi wrote Friday, "showed
a substantial lack of independence and disrespect for the most
basic and fundamental corporate governance rules, negatively
affecting the organization and image of Telecom Italia."
Friday's letter formally requesting Telecom Italia to take
action--along with an attached 30-page report--is the latest
development in a months-long tussle between the French group and
the American activist hedge fund. The two have been locked in a
fight for influence over Telecom Italia since early 2018.
Telecom Italia said in a statements its board would evaluate the
request and noted that the appointment of the external auditor has
been scheduled for a Jan. 17 meeting.
Elliott Management didn't immediately respond to a request for
comment.
The appointment of the current external auditor,
PricewaterhouseCoopers SpA, expires with the audit of the financial
statements for the period ended Dec. 31.
--Cristina Roca contributed to this story.
Write to Maria Armental at maria.armental@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 14, 2018 15:37 ET (20:37 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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