ROME, Nov 27, 2021 (BSS/AFP) - Telecom Italia Chief Executive Luigi
Gubitosi has resigned, news reports said Friday, amid increasing pressure on
the top management by shareholders, including France's Vivendi.

  The departure of Gubitosi, who has been at the helm of the struggling
telecom company since May 2018, comes in the wake of a nearly 11 billion euro
buy-out offer from US private equity firm KKR.

  TIM's current president, Salvatore Rossi, will take on Gubitosi's duties in
the interim, reported Italian news agency AGI.

  A former executive of Fiat and Alitalia, Gubitosi in recent years has not
been able to reverse the declining share price of Italy's largest telecom
firm.

  The move came nearly a week after the "friendly" public tender offer by New
York-based Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, for the entire share capital of TIM.

  KKR said its offer would be for an initial .505 euros per share, valuing
the Italian operator at around 10.8 billion euros ($12.2 billion).

  TIM's board met on Friday for six hours, AGI said, after calling an
emergency meeting Sunday. It said then that KKR's proposal was subject to
about four weeks of due diligence and would require the backing of a majority
of shareholders.

  Any buyout of TIM would need the approval from Italian government
stakeholders, as TIM's network is considered a national strategic asset.

  KKR already has a 37.5 percent stake in FiberCop, a joint venture with TIM
and Italian internet provider Fastweb to provide fibre optic broadband across
Italy.

  TIM's management has been increasingly dogged by shareholder discontent,
the largest of which is from Vivendi, over disappointing company results and
flagging shares, according to recent news reports.