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MILAN (Reuters) -Telecom Italia’s (TIM) former Chief Executive Luigi Gubitosi agreed on Friday to step down from the company’s board, two sources close to the matter said, resolving an impasse that prevented Italy’s biggest phone group from naming his successor.
The boardroom crisis has delayed the group’s response to a $37 billion takeover approach from U.S. private equity fund KKR which is conditional on backing from the company and Italy’s government.
KKR has not yet been granted access to TIM’s data which it requested before making a formal bid. TIM picked advisers to study the KKR bid two weeks after receiving it on Nov. 19 but the board is not expected to take a decision on KKR’s due diligence demand on Friday, sources said.
Gubitosi had quit his role as CEO last month after coming under pressure from TIM’s biggest investor Vivendi (OTC:VIVHY) and losing the confidence of a majority of board members, following a string of profit warnings.
But Gubitosi did not step down as a board director, preventing TIM from naming a new CEO pending a free board seat.
TIM promoted Pietro Labriola, the head of its prized Brazilian business, as general manager and sources have said he was expected to be named CEO once a board seat was available. The company, however, is still hunting for a new CEO.
Gubitosi late on Thursday reached a deal with TIM’s nomination committee over the terms of his departure, the sources said, adding that the agreement had been approved at a board meeting on Friday which is still ongoing.
It is not clear when TIM will name Gubitosi’s successor, with one source saying it was expected to happen shortly and the other saying it would take longer.
