MILAN (Reuters) - Telecom Italia 's (MI:TLIT) main shareholder Vivendi (PA:VIV) is very concerned about the situation at the Italian phone group since activist fund Elliott seized board control and is weighing its options, a spokesman for the French media company said.
The activist fund wrestled TIM board control from Vivendi in May after a two-month campaign to shake up the way the French group had been running the former telecoms monopoly.
Besides a governance overhaul, Elliott fund has proposed a spin-off and partial sale of a soon-to-be-created network company, a conversion of savings shares, a return to dividends and asset sales.
"Elliott promised all kinds of things but now they seem to have disappeared... It's a big mess," the spokesman told Reuters on Wednesday.
"There is no collective Elliott team, they're all over the place," the spokesman said.
Vivendi is concerned about TIM's current share price and the lack of visibility on the company's turnaround plan, he said, adding it was raising its level of vigilance.
Asked if Vivendi was considering calling a new shareholder meeting to try and overhaul the board, he said no decision had been taken yet.
Elliott and TIM were not immediately available to comment.
On Tuesday, TIM said its revenues and core earnings had both fallen in the first six months, adding it would consider asset sales of some subsidiaries including broadcasting unit Persidera.
The company will hold a conference call on first-half results later on Wednesday.
TIM CEO Amos Genish, appointed when Vivendi controlled the board, is looking to execute a three-year plan focussing on a digital transformation, fixing the group's finances and getting back investment grade credit rating.
Telecom Italia shares were up 1.2 percent at 1052 GMT though they remained close to their lowest level in nearly five years, having fallen more than 14 percent so far this year.