Vivendi Remains Confident Of Success In Italy: Executive Chairman

French media conglomerate Vivendi remains confident of achieving “success” in Italy, the company’s executive chairman Arnaud de Puyfontaine told Vivendi’s annual shareholder meeting on Monday.

De Puyfontaine was responding to a question from a private shareholder, in which he refuted any suggestion that Vivendi had failed in Italy, where Vivendi is the top individual stakeholder in Telecom Italia but has been embroiled in a tussle with an activist fund regarding the Italian telecoms group.

“Rome was not built in a day,” said de Puyfontaine, highlighting how Vivendi needed to be patient regarding its plans to make a success of its operations in Italy.

Last month, Vivendi offered to withdraw its motion on board member replacements at Telecom Italia, as it took a first step toward ending a bitter dispute with activist fund Elliott that has hobbled Telecom Italia over the past year.―Reuters