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Italian telco could name a new leader before Easter, or failing that, shortly afterwards, sources say.
Telecom Italia will likely choose a new chief executive before the end of the month, according to news reports on Wednesday.
The Italian incumbent’s nominations committee will meet on Thursday to discuss a list of possible candidates, an unnamed source told Reuters.
A separate source said that the telco expects to make a decision quickly, either before Easter or shortly afterwards.
The newswire named Flavio Cattaneo, chief executive of Italian railway company NTV and already a Telecom Italia board member, as the frontrunner to take over from Marco Patuano, who resigned earlier this week.
Patuano’s departure was not wholly unexpected, coming as it did after reports of pressure from Telecom Italia’s largest shareholder Vivendi with regard to the strategic direction of the telco. Rumours were circulating that Vivendi had met with potential candidates to step into the CEO role should Patuano not move Telecom Italia in the direction that it desired.
Vivendi is thought to be pushing for the transformation of Telecom Italia into a Southern Europe-focused media company and for its withdrawal from Brazil.
Having announced Patuano’s departure on Monday, Telecom Italia the very next day revealed that it had called upon its nomination and remuneration committee to formally begin the search for a new CEO, suggesting it is keen to avoid leaving the hot seat empty for too long.
In the meantime, company chairman Giuseppe Recchi has stepped into the breach to serve as interim CEO.
