A new twist in the battle over Telecom Italia

The soap opera-like battle for control of Telecom Italia continues, with another twist Monday morning. A judge from the business section of the Court of Milan agreed with the company and its biggest shareholder, the French company Vivendi, to block board replacements that had been requested by the investor fund Elliott.

Elliott has been demanding the replacement of Vivendi’s directors. But after it made its demands, the entire board resigned, which would trigger new elections according to company bylaws. The judge agreed with Vivendi and Telecom Italia, saying that the entire board must stand for election, rather than the more piecemeal solution requested by the investor group.

In addition to its in-house lawyers Frédéric Crépin and Caroline Le Masne De Chermont, Vivendi was assisted by the law firm of Chiomenti (with lawyers Filippo Modulo, Andrea Bernava, Silvio Martuccelli and Marco Maugeri) and by the U.S.-based  Cleary Gottlieb (with the lawyers Giuseppe Scassellati , Ferdinando Emanuele, Paolo Rainelli and Roberto Argeri).

TIM’s board of directors was assisted by lawyers Francesco Gatti, Carlo Pavesi, Luigi Arturo Bianchi, Stefano Verzoni, and Andrea Zoppini.