TIM wants to appoint new CEO by the end of September
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TIM wants to appoint new CEO by the end of September

Telecom Italia (TIM) is searching for a new permanent CEO within a time frame of just a few weeks.

According to Il Messaggero, the Italian daily newspaper, the company has hired headhunting company Egon Zehnder to find suitable candidates as quickly as possible. Giuseppe Recchi, deputy chairman, is taking the lead as favourite to assume the role. Amos Genish, the general manager of operations at TIM, and Paolo Dal Pino, head of Prometeon, a tyre company, are also said to be in the running.

In July, Arnaud de Puyfontaine the CEO of Vivendi, TIM’s biggest shareholder, was named as interim CEO for the companyafter the resignation of Flavio Cattaneo, who held the role for 16 months. It is rumoured that Cattaneo left because he didn’t want to work alongside Genish, whom Vivendi wanted to put in as managing director. 

The two companies have been the source of a lot of media attention due to the amount of control Vivendi has in TIM's business operations as the biggest shareholder. The French media group has denied these claims, saying: "it considers that it does not exercise any de facto control of Telecom Italia."

Only last month Reuters reported that lawyers for TIM have advised the company that Vivendi influence does not breach any government competition regulations and that the firm "has sent the opinion to the Italian government, which is looking into whether Vivendi failed to meet an obligation to notify it of its effective control of a firm considered a strategic national asset". In a similar fashion, Vivendi has also sought the advice of lawyers and contacted the Italian government denying its suspected ‘influence’ over TIM, for fear of the government taking further action. 

The publication also stated that should a replacement not be found by the end of the month, it’s likely that the position will be handed to Genish, although TIM hasn’t given an official comment.

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