By Maria Armental 
 

Vivendi SA on Friday asked Telecom Italia SpA's board to call a shareholders' meeting to appoint new financial auditors and replace five board members backed by Elliott Management Corp.

The French media group, Telecom Italia's largest shareholder, is seeking to replace board chairman Fulvio Conti, along with directors Alfredo Altavilla, Massimo Ferrari, Dante Roscini and Paola Giannotti de Ponti with Franco Bernabè, Gabriele Galateri di Genola, Rob Van der Valk, Flavia Mazzarella and Francesco Vatalaro.

The five Elliott-backed directors, Vivendi wrote Friday, "showed a substantial lack of independence and disrespect for the most basic and fundamental corporate governance rules, negatively affecting the organization and image of Telecom Italia."

Friday's letter formally requesting Telecom Italia to take action--along with an attached 30-page report--is the latest development in a months-long tussle between the French group and the American activist hedge fund. The two have been locked in a fight for influence over Telecom Italia since early 2018.

Telecom Italia said in a statements its board would evaluate the request and noted that the appointment of the external auditor has been scheduled for a Jan. 17 meeting.

Elliott Management didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

The appointment of the current external auditor, PricewaterhouseCoopers SpA, expires with the audit of the financial statements for the period ended Dec. 31.

 

--Cristina Roca contributed to this story.

 

Write to Maria Armental at maria.armental@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 14, 2018 15:37 ET (20:37 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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