Labriola Secures Second Term as TIM CEO

Telecom Italia CEO Pietro Labriola secured a second term following an investor vote. The decision seems to represent shareholders' backing of his strategy to sell the operator’s fixed network assets.

Telecom Italia stated a slate of candidates headed up by Labriola won six out of nine seats on the board of directors. Investment companies Merlyn Partners and BlueBell Capital Partners, which had put up a slate of candidates to challenge Labriola, won two and one seat respectively.

The companies own a 0.5% stake in Telecom Italia each and the former’s parent Merlyn Advisor recently publicly slated the operator’s current strategy, as well as its plan to offload its fixed-line business to NetCo to KKR. However, the vote in Labriola’s favor represents major backing for the sale, worth €18.8 billion, which is intended to cut the operator’s debt load. Vivendi, the largest TIM shareholder with 24%, has also opposed the fixed network sale but abstained from voting.