Vivendi coup of Telecom Italia complete as Chairman replaced

Having got the green light from the European Commission Vivendi has replaced the artist formerly known as Telecom Italia’s Chairman with its own CEO.
It makes you wonder why companies ever bother with full M&A when all you need to do is acquire a minority stake and then manipulate the board such that you’re effective in charge anyway. The appointment of Arnaud Roy de Puyfontaine as Executive Chairman, with Giuseppe Recchi demoted Deputy Chairman would appear to achieve just that.