In an interview with Reuters, Generali Chairman Gabriele Galateri told the news agency that the board would resort to selling its stake with Telecom Italia should there be no solid plans to uplift the Italian phone company's financial position.
A shareholders meeting would be held on September 19. The four shareholders that would be meeting were Generali, Intesa Sanpaolo, Mediobanca and TelefonicaMC, who owned a 22.5% stake. Telecom Italia Chairman Franco Bernabe would be also reviewing options to board in a potential partner during the board meeting.
Telecom Italia is the largest telecommunications company in Italy. It is also active in the media and manufacturing industries. Assicurazioni Generali SpA, also based in Italy, is an insurance company. Headquartered in Trieste, Generali is the largest insurance company in all of Europe.
Rating agencies recently put the Italian phone company's debt, which is at EUR28.8 billion or USD38 million as of end of June, for a possible downgrade to junk debt. Bernabe is being pushed to find much-needed capital to lift Telecom Italia out of a financial rut, as its debt had surpassed its market value three times over.
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