News
Italian incumbent says it is holding talks with chief executive with a view to negotiating the terms of his departure.
Telecom Italia on Monday announced that it is thrashing out the terms of the resignation of chief executive officer Marco Patuano.
In a brief statement published at the behest of stock market regulator Consob, the Italian incumbent revealed that it is holding negotiations with Patuano with a view to reaching agreement on the "consensual suspension" of his office.
"At present no communication about resignation or surrender of the office has been presented," Telecom Italia said.
However, given the nature of the communication, the end result is unlikely to be anything other than a resignation announcement.
Patuano has come under pressure in recent months from major shareholder Vivendi, which according to various media reports has expressed concern over Telecom Italia’s strategic direction.
The French group, which increased its stake in Telecom Italia to 24.9% – just shy of the 25% mandatory takeover threshold – earlier this month, is reportedly keen to push the transformation of the Italian telco into a Southern European-focused media outfit. It is also backing an exit from Brazil, where Telecom Italia owns a majority stake in TIM, the market’s only major mobile player without a significant fixed-line business.
A few weeks ago Bloomberg claimed that Vivendi CEO Arnaud de Puyfontaine had met with potential candidates to replace Patuano should he fail to steer Telecom Italia in the direction his company favours.
Telecom Italia played down the report, and others like it, but it now appears that Patuano has reached the end of the road, two and a half years after he took on the top job.
