Telecom Italia’s Conti Plans to Resign, Easing Investors’ Feud

(Bloomberg) -- Telecom Italia SpA Chairman Fulvio Conti is planning to resign in a move that signals the battle for influence between two of the phone carrier’s largest investors may be nearing an end, according to people familiar with the matter.

Fulvio Conti, 71, was appointed as chairman last year in a list proposed by Elliott Management Corp. as part of board reshuffle won by the U.S. activist investor against the French media-conglomerate Vivendi SA. Conti’s resignation hasn’t been finalized and is expected to be discussed at a Sept. 26 board meeting, the people said.

Telecom Italia representatives weren’t immediately available for comment.

Telecom Italia shareholders Vivendi and Elliott have been waging a battle for influence over the heavily indebted phone company since the fund run by Paul Singer bought a stake in Italy’s biggest phone company in 2018.

In March, Vivendi abandoned an attempt to wrest control of Telecom Italia from allies of Elliott, signaling an end to a boardroom battle that delayed an overhaul of the phone company.

Amos Genish, a Vivendi ally, was ousted as CEO last year as part of the clash over company strategy. He was replaced by Luigi Gubitosi, who’s trimming costs to help restructure the crisis-ridden company.

The two sides have disagreed over how to restore the fortunes of the Italian carrier, which faces new competitive threats and is laboring under heavy debts.

La Repubblica reported earlier that Conti could step down at the company’s post-summer board meeting and that a replacement hasn’t been identified yet.

To contact the reporters on this story: Daniele Lepido in Milan at dlepido1@bloomberg.net;Angelina Rascouet in Paris at arascouet1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Rebecca Penty at rpenty@bloomberg.net, Dan Liefgreen, Jennifer Ryan

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