Telecom Italia’s (TI) chairman denied negotiations were taking place with Vivendi following an earlier report in Les Echos that the French group wanted to build its stake in the Italian incumbent from 15.5 per cent to about 20 per cent.

Speaking to journalists, Giuseppe Recchi said “we have not talked about this… Should that happen, it will be communicated to the market,” Reuters reported.

The question was asked in relation to TI trying to to avert dilution in case of a conversion of its saving shares into ordinary shares.

The earlier report claimed Vivendi “is looking to buy blocs of Telecom Italia’s shares to beef up its position in the capital.”

It went on to say that the move would be a “good financial investment” as it will give Vivendi access to TI’s 150 million customer base, which will be useful to its subsidiaries like Canal+ and Universal Music, both content providers.

It also quoted a source as saying that Vincent Bolloré, chairman of Vivendi’s supervisory board, “would have liked that Vivendi keeps operator SFR in France but it was too late to regain control when he took the reins.”

In May, Vivendi closed the sale of its 20 per cent stake in Numericable-SFR to Altice at a price of €40 per share.

In June, it raised its stake in Telecom Italia to 14.9 per cent, taking the place of Telefonica as TI’s biggest investor, and earlier this month rounded up its stake to 15.5 percent, according to a filing with Italian market watchdog Consob.

The move came as a surprise as over the past two years the group sold off assets in telecoms companies to focus on content and media, but a spokesperson told Mobile World Live that the move is part of an “opportunistic and pragmatic” approach.

“This investment represents an opportunity for the group to be present and to expand in a market with significant growth prospects and a very strong appetite for quality content,” it added.

In July, Vivendi said it was satisfied with its TI stake but would not rule out the chances of increasing it.