Top investor Vivendi urges Telecom Italia to fill vacant board seat - sources

MILAN, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Telecom Italia's top investor Vivendi has urged Italy's biggest phone group to appoint a director to fill a vacant seat on its board, two sources with knowledge of the matter said on Friday.

The board seat has been empty since late September, when Renault boss Luca de Meo resigned as an independent director at the former phone monopoly to focus on the turnaround plan of the French carmaker.

The sources cited a letter to Telecom Italia's chairman Salvatore Rossi in which the French group calls for a quick appointment of a new director.

Vivendi and Telecom Italia declined to comment.

The issue is not expected to be a topic of discussion when the TIM board meets on Nov.9, although a formal agenda for the meeting is still to be issued, other sources said, cautioning deliberations are ongoing.

Vivendi has clashed with Rossi, a former Bank of Italy official, over corporate governance issues on a number of occasions and is piling on pressure to replace him. (Reporting by Elvira Pollina Editing by Keith Weir)