MILAN (Thomson Financial) - Telecom Italia SpA's protracted management reshuffle has forced the company to hold plans to bid for German broadband operator Freenet AG - a situation that may benefit potential rival bidder Telefonica SA, the daily Il Sole 24 Ore said, without giving a source.
Telefonica, along with Italian investors, has a 23.6 pct stake in Telecom Italia through the holding company Telco.
The daily added that the Spaniards are not satisfied with the welcome they received in Italy after taking the controlling stake in Telecom Italia in October, and are sceptical of extracting all expected synergies from the alliance with the Italian peer.
Telefonica previously said it expects 300-500 mln eur in annual synergies for each company.
La Repubblica added that the investment bank Mediobanca SpA, which is also a shareholder in Telco, is expected to approve on Monday the appointment at Telecom Italia of Gabriele Galateri di Genola as the chairman and Franco Bernabe as chief executive, replacing Pasquale Pistorio and Riccardo Ruggiero respectively.
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