Telecom Italia CEO Re-elected Despite Shareholder Opposition to Fixed-Network Sale

The shareholder vote at Telecom Italia’s annual meeting has resulted in the re-election of Pietro Labriola as CEO for a second term. This is a clear sign of support for his strategy of selling the operator’s fixed network assets. Labriola’s slate of candidates secured six out of nine seats on the board of directors, while investment companies Merlyn Partners and BlueBell Capital Partners managed to secure two and one seat respectively.

Despite owning a small stake in Telecom Italia (0.5 per cent each), Merlyn Partners’ parent company Merlyn Advisor has publicly criticized the operator’s current strategy and its plan to sell its fixed-line business to NetCo to KKR. However, this opposition was not enough to stop Labriola from being re-elected as CEO.

The €18.8 billion sale aims to reduce the operator’s debt, and despite some opposition from shareholders, the vote in favor of Labriola indicates strong support for this plan. Vivendi, Telecom Italia’s largest shareholder with a 24% stake, also opposed the fixed network sale but chose to abstain from voting on the matter.