Telecom Italia’s board of directors appointed a new CFO to help implement a revised strategy for the Italian operator.

Adrian Calaza, currently CFO at Arcor Group in Argentina, is to take over from Giovanni Ronca with effect from 1 March.

Calaza previously held a number of positions within the Telecom Italia group, including as CFO of TIM Brasil from October 2016 to September 2021. The timeline means he has already served alongside current Telecom Italia CEO Pietro Labriola, until recently the boss of the Brazilian unit.

Labriola is currently working on a plan offering alternative options to a near €11 billion takeover bid by KKR in an apparent attempt to prepare for a rejection of the deal.

The CEO is understood to have proposed separating Telecom Italia’s infrastructure assets from its services operations.

More details are expected to be revealed after 2 March, when Labriola is tipped to formally submit his industrial plan for the period from 2022 to 2024.

For now, Telecom Italia is keeping its cards close to its chest. Following a board meeting yesterday (14 February), the group confirmed only that it will focus on enterprise services such as cloud, IoT and cybersecurity, and indicated the CEO “is continuing to explore possible strategic options, including solutions that go beyond vertical integration”.

Brazil is also regarded as a future growth area now Telecom Italia, Telefonica Brasil and Claro have finally secured regulatory approval to buy the mobile assets of the Oi Group.