How do you approach managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crises, and how does your legal strategy align with the broader business strategy to ensure the organisation’s resilience?  

We live in a period of unprecedented change, instability and crises, and my approach to managing legal aspects has changed in recent years to adapt to the new context. In general, I try to act as a true business partner, adopting a transparent and consistent leadership strategy focused on people and competence. On the one hand, I continuously align on business priorities and provide swift advice, favoring a creative and business-oriented approach, to provide results-driven solutions. By way of example, I regularly catch up with team members before and after key meetings with stakeholders, for debriefing sessions, lessons-learned and brainstorming of new ideas. On the other hand, I plan off-time with the team and foster candid discussions on how we can, and should, contribute to our company’s ‘purpose’. This helps us place our work in the more general business strategy and nurtures positive relations. This approach contributes effectively to align with the broader business strategy to ensure resilience because it creates dynamic, confident and resilient teams. It builds on team spirit and seamless collaboration, fosters ‘ownership’, and develops a positive ‘we can do’ attitude ensuring resilience of the business and its people. 

What are the main cases or transactions that you have been involved in recently?  

In my previous role I was involved in an innovative environmental project on land-fill mining aimed, inter alia, at removing and treating waste from a land fill while ensuring safety conditions, involving numerous technical and legal challenges, and a vast array of stakeholders. I was also involved, as legal director of a target company part of a foreign group, in its acquisition by an Italian entrepreneur, including M&A and post-M&A integration activities involving industrial plants in-and-outside the EU. Since moving to Wind Tre, I was involved in a complex transaction whereby EQT was to acquire 60 percent of a newly created company, which was to own and operate Wind Tre’s mobile and fixed network, valued at an enterprise value of EUR3.4bn; the transaction did not close. Further, I was involved in the acquisition by Wind Tre of the operational assets and activities of fixed wireless access operator Opnet/Linkem. In my new role, I am currently also involved in a project to revisit corporate governance items to consider and introduce digital/AI initiatives, as well as related synergies and efficiencies. 

What role does the legal department play in promoting and ensuring corporate social responsibility in your organisation?  

The legal department plays a key role. Firstly, it can provide advice on the complex set of relevant rules and, in so doing, can offer tailored practical solutions promoting CSR and CSR-oriented business solutions. By way of example, the legal department proposed and steered the creation of a sustainability committee at Wind Tre this year. Secondly, the legal department has an overarching and broad view of most legal topics and is thus in a unique position to provide comprehensive advice on evolving CSR topics. By way of example, this is useful to consider revisiting current obligations considering new CSR concerns, as could be the case for directors’ duties. Given this overarching and broad view – which we seek to maintain through continuous learning- we are also regularly involved in cross-functional projects to promote CSR topics.