Gabriele Galateri, chairman at insurance firm Assicurazioni Generali, said today that the firm will exit its holding in June, and a person close to the matter told reporters that investment bank Mediobanca is also planning to sell its shares next month.
Under the terms of a shareholder pact, stakeholders must notify other members that they want to sell out by June, or wait until next February.
Generali owns approximately 19% of shares in investor group Telco – which owns 22.4% of Telecom Italia – bringing Generali’s holding in Telecom Italia to an estimated 4.3%.
Mediobanca’s shares in Telco come to 7.3%, making the investment bank’s holding in Telecom Italia approximately 1.6%.
Telecom Italia shares have fallen by up to 1.6% following reports that large amounts of stock may come to market in Milan, and late last year the company was reportedly discussing a potential restructure in order to manage debts estimated at $28 billion.
In April this year, Egyptian tycoon Naguib Sawiris said he would consider a $2 billion investment in Telecom Italia if the company’s largest shareholder, Spain’s Telefónica, left the group.
