MILAN (Reuters) -An Italian court rejected a request by Telecom Italia's (TIM) top investor Vivendi to annul the former phone monopoly's decision to sell its landline grid to a consortium led by KKR, the court said in a statement.
Vivendi, which holds a 24% stake in TIM, filed a complaint with a Milan court in December 2023 claiming that the decision by TIM's board to approve the deal, worth up to 22 billion euros ($22.4 billion), was illegitimate.
Telecom Italia said at the time the board acted within its rights. The deal, which was approved by TIM's board of directors in November 2023, was finalised last July.
In the statement, the court said Vivendi claims could not be accepted as the Paris-listed group did not have the interests or the legitimacy to pursue a legal action.
A Vivendi representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Sponsored by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's right-wing government, which took a 16% stake in the network, the sale of TIM's most valuable asset was part of a plan to cut the former phone monopoly's debt pile and stabilise TIM's finances.
Vivendi criticised the deal, seeking a higher price and questioning the sustainability of the business left behind.
It said an extraordinary shareholder vote was needed to approve the deal, arguing the sale had changed the company's purpose and any dissenting shareholders had the right to hand back their shares for cash and exit their investment.
(Reporting by Elvira Pollina and Emilio Parodi, editing by Cristina Carlevaro and Keith Weir)