British fund Davide Leone and Partners buys 10% of Telecom Italia savings shares

London-based investment fund Davide Leone and Partners (DL&P) said on Monday it had bought Telecom Italia savings shares and currently owned one tenth of the total.

Asked about market rumours that Davide Leone, an Italian financier whose fund is a major shareholder in bank Banco BPM , had been snapping up Telecom Italia savings shares, a representative for the fund confirmed it owned 10% of the total.

The fund’s stake is worth around 170 million euros ($189.13 million), at Monday’s closing price.

Telecom Italia had no comment.

The fund decided to invest in Telecom Italia because “the telecoms sector in Europe in undervalued, as was the banking sector years ago” and with interest rates falling and new EU rules, investments in the industry could be favoured, Leone was quoted as saying by daily la Repubblica on Tuesday.

Leone told the daily that over the years, savings shares had been underrated and that he saw the potential for payouts from the company.

“If the outlook improves, then savings shareholders are entitled to take the dividend, including the dividend accumulated over the last three years,” Leone is quoted as saying in the report.

He sees potential upsides in the phone company’s recent business developments, including the sale of its fixed-line network and a potential 1 billion euro cash-in deriving from a legal case against the Italian government.

Telecom Italia has not paid any dividend to shareholders, including those holding savings shares, since 2021.