Telecom Italia: Arnaud de Puyfontaine (Vivendi) named executive chairman

The Frenchman Arnaud de Puyfontaine, chairman of the executive board of Vivendi, has been appointed the executive chairman of Telecom Italia during the board of directors meeting on 01/06/2017, announced Vivendi on the same day. The French audiovisual conglomerate Vivendi is the majority shareholder of the Italian telecom operator with 23.15% of the capital.

Arnaud de Puyfontaine retains his position at Vivendi. The French group wants to "pursue a long-term strategy by developing convergence of content."

The European Commission has approved the acquisition of control of the Italian telecom operator by Vivendi on 30/05/2017. "In order to respond to the competition issues identified by the Commission, Vivendi undertook to divest Telecom Italia's (70%) stake in Persidera (a joint venture between two existing operators, Telecom Italia Media Broadcasting, which belongs to the Telecom Italia group, and Rete A, which belongs to the Italian press group L'Espresso)," said the Commission.