Vivendi has reduced its stake in Italian mobile carrier Telecom Italia (TIM) to 18.37 percent.

The French telecom company confirmed on Friday (March 21) that it has cut its stake down from 23.8 percent as part of the company’s strategic decision to divest from TIM.

Vivendi said that it now owns 18.37 percent of the ordinary shares and voting rights, and 13.19 percent of the share capital of TIM.

Earlier this month, Vivendi CEO Arnaud de Puyfontaine confirmed that the company wants to sell its entire stake in the Italian telco.

Vivendi’s push to sell its stake in TIM stems from its opposition to TIM’s sale of its landline grid to investment firm KKR.

The deal completed in July 2024, after TIM agreed to sell its landline grid network to KKR the previous November.

However, Vivendi opposed the sale. TIM approved the sale without holding a conditional vote with shareholders, something that angered Vivendi.

Vivendi called the €22 billion ($23.85bn) sale “unlawful” and even took its grievances to the courts, where the Italian courts rejected Vivendi’s appeal to have the sale annulled.

TIM pushed for the sale to reduce its debt, which it expects to cut by €14 billion ($14.3bn).

The company has also been looking to shift its subsea unit Sparkle. Last month, TIM’s board of directors approved an offer worth €700 million ($758m) from Italy’s Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) and Retelit, a company controlled by the Asterion fund, for its Sparkle unit.