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Italia boss defies Olivetti
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May 20, 1999: 6:30 p.m. ET
'I'm confident,' says Telecom Italia CEO Bernabe on eve of takeover vote count
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Telecom Italia CEO Franco Bernabe put on a show of bravado Thursday as Europe's telecom takeover battle approached its climax.
"I am confident Olivetti will not win," Bernabe said in an exclusive interview with Sissel McCarthy of CNN's "World Business Today". "We are working very hard in order to win the battle."
Olivetti is currently locked in a bitter struggle with German's Deutsche Telekom for control of Telecom Italia. As Friday's deadline nears, the battle has turned particularly nasty with both sides trading accusations in the media.
Charges and counter charges
Earlier Thursday, Telecom Italia accused Olivetti of rigging its tender offer and urged regulators to suspend the bidding.
However, Bourse regulator Consob rejected Telecom's petition.
"At this stage, Consob does not believe there are sufficient grounds to proceed with a suspension of the offer," it said in a statement.
Olivetti has said it needs at least 35 percent of Telecom's ordinary shares to proceed with the takeover. As of Thursday it had just under 20 percent of Telecom's shares.
Analysts said Olivetti is likely to get 35 percent of Telecom's shares.
"They should make 35 percent but not 50 percent. Without outright control, Olivetti could be in a sticky position but I don't think the market fears they won't make it at all, we're just seeing some profit taking," one Milan analyst told Reuters.
Many institutional shareholders are likely to wait until the last hours of the bid on Friday before making a final decision.
The bid closes at 3 p.m. GMT Friday.
The fight is 'far from over'
Despite market forecasts that Olivetti might have a significant amount of Italia shares when the votes are counted Friday night, Bernabe warned the fight is far from over.
If Olivetti fails to win an outright majority, Italia claims, it will be allowed to vote for only 3 percent of the capital, under Italian company law.
Bernabe conceded the law on this matter is something of a gray area, but he maintained, "They will be blocked. It will be their [Olivetti's] problem to study what to do."
Bernabe defended Italia's current position, and said the company would do well whether or not its proposed merger with Deutsche Telekom (FDTE) proceeds. "The value of the company has not been realized so far," he admitted, but "it's our shareholders who deserve to get the benefit of the company's potential, not Olivetti shareholders."
"Shareholders have an alternative [to Olivetti's offer]," Bernabe pointed out. "There is another plan on the table -- the merger with Deutsche Telekom -- and they know the stand-alone plan is already showing good results."
Telecom Italia shares, the most actively traded on the Milan bourse, ended 2.39 percent down at 9.69 euros while Olivetti closed 1.73 percent lower at 3.3 euros.
-- from staff and wires
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