Telecom Italia Investor Challenges CEO With Rival Board Slate

A Telecom Italia SpA mobile phone store in Milan, Italy, on Thursday, Dec. 28, 2023. Italy won’t need to change its budget plans for next year to meet the new European Union rules just agreed by the bloc, according to the country’s finance chief.

(Bloomberg) — A Telecom Italia SpA minority investor proposed an alternative slate of 10 candidates for the phone carrier’s board, including a new chief executive officer.

Merlyn Partners SCSp, an investment firm led by former JPMorgan Chase & Co. banker Alessandro Barnaba, has proposed former Telecom Italia executive Stefano Siragusa as CEO and former Microsoft Corp. executive Umberto Paolucci as chairman, according to a statement late Thursday.

Bloomberg News reported earlier that Merlyn was mulling an alternative list for the Telecom Italia board.

Merlyn continues to support the sale of Telecom Italia’s landline network to US-based KKR & Co., the investment firm said in a statement earlier this month. Still, Merlyn has called for a sale of the phone carrier’s Brazil unit this year.

Telecom Italia shares slumped earlier this month as investors raised concerns about a higher-than-expected debt forecast for the end of 2024. The company said it will be able to meet its multiyear guidance — even if its debt rises this year — following the closure of a landmark deal to sell off its landline network. That move was enacted by the onetime monopoly in a bid to bring the debt under control.

The Rome-based company has been struggling for years to cut debt and adapt to an increasingly competitive market.

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