By Donato Paolo Mancini and Marc Navarro

Telecom Italia SpA's (TIT.MI) board of directors saw Elliott Management Corp. take over two-thirds of its seats after a vote at its annual general meeting Friday afternoon.

Vivendi SA (VIV.FR) had presented 10 board candidates, the French company said Friday, with half of those being appointed to the board, which has a total of 15 seats.

Elliott began building a stake in Telecom Italia months ago and has challenged long-time shareholder Vivendi, which has a 24% stake in the operator, for influence. The activist fund took 49.84% of the votes in Friday's meeting, in which 67.15% of investors participated.

Elliott said it remains "fully supportive" of Telecom Italia's chief executive, Amos Genish. The activist fund said in a statement that the new board is now in a position to consider value-creation proposals "without the disproportionate influence from a single shareholder."

In an afternoon statement, Vivendi reaffirmed its commitment to the company, saying it will be "be extremely vigilant in ensuring that Amos Genish receives assurance" from the board members it presented.

Telecom Italia said in a statement that the new board will serve through 2020.

Write to Donato Paolo Mancini at donatopaolo.mancini@dowjones.com and Marc Navarro at marc.navarro@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 04, 2018 09:55 ET (13:55 GMT)

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