Telecom Italia board picks director to fill vacant seat

MILAN (Reuters) -Telecom Italia’s (TIM) directors have picked Giulio Gallazzi to fill a vacant seat on the former phone monopoly’s board, the company said on Wednesday, confirming what sources had told Reuters.

TIM said Gallazzi, 58, will join the board as an independent director to replace Renault boss Luca de Meo, who stepped down in September.

Gallazzi also sits as an independent director on the board of Italian broadcaster MediaforEurope, of which Telecom Italia’s top shareholder Vivendi is also an investor.

Telecom Italia added that it has kicked off the process to select a director to replace Vivendi’s representative Frank Cadoret, who quit TIM’s board this month. The next board meeting is scheduled on Dec. 15.

A potential candidate for the role is Italy’s telecoms lobby head Massimo Sarmi, whose appointment is favoured by Vivendi.

(Reporting by Elvira Pollina; editing by Agnieszka Flak and Elaine Hardcastle)