Activist signs pact to replace most of Retelit board, keep chairman, CEO

[March 28, 2018]  MILAN, LONDON (Reuters) - Activist firm Shareholder Value Management (SVM) has signed a pact with top investor Bousval in Italian telecoms infrastructure group Retelit to elect a new board next month but keep the current chairman and chief executive officer.

The pact represents 24.36 percent of Retelit's capital after SVM, which holds 9.99 percent through a fund it advises, teamed up with Bousval, the single biggest investor with a 14.37 percent stake, a document on the company's website showed.

"Retelit has a very interesting opportunity to become a platform for industry consolidation and the candidates we propose bring a wealth of M&A expertise to the table," Gianluca Ferrari, director at SVM, told Reuters, explaining the planned board changes.

SVM, which manages 3 billion euros in assets, said the shareholders intend to re-appoint chairman Dario Pardi and CEO Federico Protto.

"Over the past three years, the current executive team has performed beyond our expectations and we are confident that they are the right people to lead the company towards its ambitious 2022 targets."

Shareholders in Retelit will meet to pick a new board on April 27.

(Reporting by Maiya Keidan in London and Valentina Za in Milan, editing by Agnieszka Flak and Carolyn Cohn)

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