TIM Italia CEO Luigi Gubitosi resigns amid KKR offer

Telecom Italia (TIM) Chief Executive Officer Luigi Gubitosi resigned on Friday, less than a week after private equity firm KKR & Co. made a preliminary 10.8 billion-euro ($12.2 billion) bid for the former Italian phone monopoly. The company’s directors accepted the CEO’s offer to step down, but Gubitosi will remain as a member of the board.

Gubitosi was already under intense pressure following a surprise profit warning last month that led to a rift with Vivendi SE, Telecom Italia’s largest shareholder, people familiar with the situation had said previously.

Chairman Salvatore Rossi will take on oversight of Telecom Italia’s strategic assets, as well as partnerships and alliances, with the company’s head of Brazilian operations, Pietro Labriola, being promoted to the position of group general manager.

His departure marks the fourth overhaul of top management at Telecom Italia in less than six years. On the other hand, Vivendi has rejected the KKR bid, made on Nov. 21, as too low.