Telecom Italia: Board To Meet Later Tuesday To Select Chairman
MILAN -(Dow Jones)- Telecom Italia, Tuesday said its shareholders approved a new board of directors after a marathon annual meeting which took place against the backdrop of AT&T pulling out of a move to buy part of the Italian telephone company's biggest investor.
In a statement issued in the small hours of Tuesday morning, after a 15-hour meeting of shareholders, Telecom Italia said its newly appointed directors will meet again later Tuesday to decide who will occupy executive positions on the board, including that of chairman.
Telecom Italia's newly appointed board includes Pasquale Pistorio, tipped by observers as a likely candidate to be the company's next chairman.
Telecom Italia didn't disclose in its statement exactly when the board would meet.
AT&T's decision to exit talks to take an indirect stake in Telecom Italia, just two weeks after entering them, highlights the difficulties faced by foreign investors trying to enter the Italian market, where the government views many of its large companies as nationally strategic assets.
The April 1 statement that AT&T and Mexican mobile phone company America Movil had started talks with Telecom Italia's controlling shareholder Pirelli prompted the Italian government to speed up planned changes in the way it regulates Telecom's fixed-line network.
But during the shareholder meeting, AT&T pulled out of talks to acquire one third of holding company Olimpia, which controls 18% of Telecom Italia, because of "possible regulatory difficulties related to the deal."
Olimpia is controlled by tires-to-telecom company Pirelli, whose chairman, Marco Tronchetti Provera, quit the chairmanship of Telecom Italia last fall after an acrimonious strategy dispute with the Rome government.
Pirelli said late Monday that America Movil, which had entered talks to buy another third of Olimpia in conjunction with AT&T's move, will continue to explore possibilities with a view to a potential investment in Olimpia.
During the AGM, a number of small shareholders voiced concern about the move by AT&T and America Movil, saying it didn't create value for all investors.
Under the original plan, the purchase by AT&T and America Movil would have given the latter effective control of the company with an investment equal to just 12% of Telecom Italia.
Company Web site: http://www.telecomitalia.com
-By Kenneth Maxwell, Dow Jones Newswires; 39-02-5821 9901; kenneth.maxwell@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires"
Posted to the site on 17th April 2007
