Several Telecom Italia (TIM) directors have requested the company’s chairman to arrange a board meeting to name a new chief executive.
The group includes representatives of TIM’s leading shareholders, Vivendi, according to a report from Reuters.
The Italian phone group has an ordinary board meeting scheduled for 26 January, according to two unnamed sources of Reuters, adding that Pietro Labriola is a top prospect for the position and has the backing of Vivendi.
It further revealed Labriola has been tasked with creating a new three-year business plan to revamp TIM on a “standalone basis”, which could include a spin-off of its fixed network infrastructure.
The telecoms company lost its CEO Luigi Gubitosi in November amid fallout from the ongoing €33bn takeover bid made by US investment fund KKR.
Gubitosi had been in the role since November 2018 and was TIM’s fifth chief executive in six years.
His responsibilities have since been split between Labriola, who is also CEO of the group’s operations in Brazil, and its chairman, Salvatore Rossi.
At the end of last year TIM slashed its earnings forecast for fiscal year 2021 due to continued uncertainty around the buyout proposal from KKR, in its third earnings warning in a year.
Telecom Italia and Vivendi have been contacted for comment.