Telecom Italia Investor Seeks to Oust CEO, Halt Network Sale (1)

A London-based investment firm led by former JPMorgan Chase & Co. banker Alessandro Barnabaunveiled a surprise plan for Telecom Italia SpA that would halt the sale of its landline network and replace the company’s chief executive officer.

Merlyn Advisors Ltd, a minority investor in Telecom Italia, wrote to the company’s board on Friday calling on the phone carrier to keep the grid while selling its consumer division and its Brazilian unit Tim SA, according to a document seen by Bloomberg.

The plan proposes an eventual merger between Telecom Italia and Open Fiber SpA without the smaller rival’s metropolitan ...