ROME (Reuters) – Telecom Italia’s (TIM) approval of the sale of its fixed network to private equity fund KKR is an important step for the operator and falls within the exclusive competence of the board of directors, said Thursday the managing director Pietro Labriola.
These comments follow statements from Vivendi, the group’s main shareholder, which assured Monday that it would use “all legal means at its disposal to contest this decision and protect its rights as well as those of all shareholders.”
In a conference call, Pietro Labriola said the decision to accept KKR’s 19 billion euro offer for its landline assets without a shareholder vote “was based on several independent legal opinions indicating that the issue clearly fell within the exclusive competence of the board of directors.
“It is not possible, under Italian law, to transfer this competence to shareholders,” he added.
According to Vivendi, the sale required an extraordinary shareholder vote because it would change TIM’s corporate purpose.
Pietro Labriola rejected this argument, citing a “very careful and in-depth analysis of the operation based on the effective perimeter of TIM’s network.”
“There is nothing in our statutes that calls for ownership of the network. And so, frankly, we are quite confident that our view of the transaction will be upheld, even in court,” he added .
Pietro Labriola said that the operation complies with the strict execution of the strategic plan unanimously approved in 2022.
Sources told Reuters they expected Vivendi to file a complaint in a Milan court to challenge the decision.
Pietro Labriola said the group did not anticipate “obstacles to the required approvals” or risk of delay or blocking of the transaction, which is scheduled to close in summer 2024.
(Report by Elvira Pollina, French version by Augustin Turpin, edited by Kate Entringer)
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