Telecom Italia chairman dismisses claims that Italian govt plans to ban company from selling Tim Brasil
Giuseppe Recchi, the chairman of Telecom Italia (TI), has dismissed newswire claims that the Italian government plans to extend its special 'golden powers' to ban TI from selling Brazilian mobile phone unit Tim Brasil. An item in Italian language daily Il Sole 24 Ore cited Recchi as saying he did not believe the government had such plans, and also described the proposal as surreal.
The item said that the report was carried on Bloomberg.
The Bloomberg report carried yesterday 4 July cited three people with knowledge of the dossier for its claims.
The report noted that the Italian government passed the "golden power" decree in June. The report said that it gives the government the right to turn down mergers and acquisitions in companies considered strategic to the national interest.
The report cited the sources as saying that the government is showing its backing to TI CEO Marco Patuano who wishes to retain Tim Brasil while Spanish telco Telefonica, TI's largest shareholder, wishes to break up or sell the unit
Italy is discussing a measure to give the government power to block an eventual sale or breakup of Telecom Italia SpA (TIT)’s Brazilian unit, according to three people with knowledge of the matter.
Source Il Sole 24 Ore, Newswire Round-up