MILAN (Reuters) – Telecom Italia’s (TIM) top investor Vivendi has appealed against a court decision that threw out an earlier attempt by the French group to fight the sale of the phone group’s landline network, two sources told Reuters.
Vivendi, which holds a 24% voting stake in TIM, turned to a Milan court in December 2023 to challenge the TIM board’s decision to sell the grid, saying it should have been put to a shareholder vote.
The sale, worth up to 22 billion euros ($23.1 billion), was finalised in July 2024 with backing from Italy’s government, leading to strained relations between TIM and its single biggest investor. Vivendi has signalled it is open to selling its TIM stake.
In January, the Milan court ruled that Vivendi did not have grounds to pursue legal action, saying it had failed to exercise its right to call a shareholder meeting.
The court also said Vivendi representatives had never told magistrates during the proceedings that they would have voted against the grid’s sale.
In a bid to overturn that decision, in early February Vivendi turned to the Milan appeals court, the sources said.
One of the arguments brought by the Paris-listed group is that not only dissenting investors, but also shareholders who failed to vote in favour of the grid sale or show up at the meeting altogether, had a right to withdraw by selling their shares back to TIM, the sources said.
TIM, which always said the board acted within its rights in pursuing the sale, declined to comment.
A Vivendi representative had no comment on Monday, referring to a January 14 statement where the company said it would appeal the court’s decision.
The sale of TIM’s most valuable asset to U.S investment fund KKR helped the former phone monopoly to cut its debt pile and stabilise its finances. As part of the deal, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s conservative government took 16% of the network. ($1 = 0.9538 euros)
(Reporting by Elvira Pollina; Editing by Valentina Za/Keith Weir)
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