The board of directors of Telecom Italia (TIM) has accepted the resignation of Luigi Gubitosi and relieved him of his position as the company’s CEO and general manager.
However, Gubitosi, who holds 3,957,152 shares in TIM, will remain a member of the board. At the same time, the board has appointed Pietro Labriola, who has been with TIM for 20 years and was most recently head of its global operations in Brazil, the company’s new general manager. In a statement, TIM’s board says it has also started its review of KKR’s non-binding indication of interest in the company.
Earlier, Reuters reported, quoting Bloomberg, that the US investment fund KKR is considering a joint bid for TIM with CVC Capital Partners.
Reuters has since also said that Gubitosi, in his letter to the board, criticised directors for stalling on KKR’s offer to please some shareholders.
Reuters adds that Gubitosi had rejected speculation that he was close to KKR, which he first brought on board last year, striking a €1.8 billion deal that handed the fund a 37.5% stake in TIM’s last-mile network.
As previously reported by Broadband TV News, earlier this month KKR submitted what it described as a friendly buyout offer for TIM. It put the equity value of the company at €10.7 billion.
