Italy

Atlantia charts tentative path to road truce

24 January 2020

The $19 bln infrastructure group’s new boss wants outsiders to invest into its units. These include embattled motorway operator ASPI, which risks losing a rich road concession after a bridge collapse. Opening ASPI’s capital to state investors offers a way out of the crisis.

Italian banks will yield to M&A imperative

23 January 2020

A decade after the euro zone crisis erupted, the country’s lenders have shed most of their bad debt and doubled their capital ratios. The problem now is low returns. Negative interest rates and attempts to limit sovereign bond holdings make mergers with rivals more pressing.

Italy’s honeymoon with EU is under threat

22 January 2020

Luigi Di Maio looks set to step down as head of the 5-Star Movement, the largest party in the ruling coalition. That will strain the alliance. If a crucial regional election on Sunday produces a victory for eurosceptic Matteo Salvini, it may imperil the fragile pro-EU government.

Benettons play risky game of chicken in road row

10 January 2020

Motorway operator Atlantia, part-owned by the Italian dynasty, is haggling with the government over toll fees following a 2018 bridge collapse. Betting that the fragile executive won’t cancel its concession could backfire. Besides, the $20 bln group can afford Rome’s demands.

Hadas: Fiscal deficits are A-OK after all

8 January 2020

It turns out economists can learn from experience. Decades of disinflation and years of extreme monetary policy have reversed the conventional wariness of government borrowing. The new pro-deficit thinking could moderate the next recession, but then rekindle unwanted inflation.

Payments M&A is timely bet on Italy’s cash purge

20 December 2019

Months after listing, Italian leader Nexi has spent 1 bln euros on Intesa’s merchant acquiring business. Buying state-backed peer SIA to forge a 13 bln euro European champion could be next. Bulking up while Rome is pushing measures to curb the use of banknotes makes sense.

M&A bankers will turn climate risk into clients

19 December 2019

The financial impact of global warming is one of the biggest strategic issues CEOs face, yet it plays a small role in dealmaking. That might change in 2020 as shifting regulation and consumer habits start to affect the bottom line, giving climate-conscious advisers an edge.

Italy and Germany will unite on EU tech taxes

19 December 2019

New European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen will struggle to persuade Rome and Berlin to compromise over much-needed euro zone banking reforms. Her best bet is to pick another battle. A levy on technology giants’ revenue may help the EU rivals find some common ground.

Peugeot and Fiat hit the road in a low gear

18 December 2019

PSA and FCA are to create the world’s fourth-largest carmaker. But with investors yet to buy into the promise of 3.7 bln euros of annual savings, a deal was the easy part. Peugeot boss Carlos Tavares still has to work his integrational magic to get the market on side.

Italy gives its taxpayers lousy Christmas present

16 December 2019

Rome plans to sprinkle at least 1 bln euros on a wobbly southern bank, airline Alitalia and steelmaker Ilva. The EU may sneer at a new dose of state aid, but these are problems without easy market solutions. Besides, failure to act would undermine Italy’s weak pro-EU executive.

LVMH’s Tiffany swoop will trigger bling reprisal

13 December 2019

Bernard Arnault’s $230 bln luxury giant is racing ahead of its peers. But they won’t stand still. Kering will use M&A to cure its Gucci habit. Cartier-owner Richemont offers a better fit than possible target Moncler, provided the two can solve significant governance hurdles.

Moncler offers costly fix for Kering’s Gucci habit

5 December 2019

The French fashion conglomerate run by Francois-Henri Pinault may buy Remo Ruffini’s 11 bln euro puffer jacket maker. A deal would help Kering diversify away from its largest brand, but likely at a rich price. And extracting value from a company already at its peak would be hard.

Macron should score rare hat trick in Peugeot deal

4 December 2019

The coming merger with Fiat allows public lender Bpifrance to sell a $1.1 bln stake in the carmaker and triple the government’s money. That would allay investor fears about an overbearing French state and give President Emmanuel Macron more ammo to help entrepreneurs.

European banks get glimmer of regulatory hope

3 December 2019

The bloc’s lenders are in the doldrums, partly due to easy monetary policy. But UniCredit’s plans to return 8 billion euros to shareholders point to the benefits of a gentler regulatory approach to capital buffers. Purists may object, but there is a case for placating investors.

Italian dynasties swap roles as newspaper saviours

3 December 2019

Fiat scion John Elkann is mimicking Jeff Bezos and Marc Benioff in acquiring a struggling editorial trophy, La Repubblica-owner GEDI, from the De Benedettis. Whether Elkann, who part-owns The Economist, can revive GEDI is hard to say. But the billionaire has the resources to try.

UniCredit group rethink is low-growth antidote

3 December 2019

Italy’s biggest bank is moving beyond its past restructuring mode with a promise to deliver 8 bln euros in dividends and buybacks. But ultra-low interest rates will cap growth. A planned new structure to save on capital needs will help balance that threat.

UniCredit pays up for tricky Turkish escape

2 December 2019

The 28 bln euro Italian bank trimmed its holding in Turkish lender Yapi Kredi. Break fees and a steep discount suggest local partner Koc Group got a good deal. Yet CEO Jean Pierre Mustier frees up capital, and paves the way for a proper exit, if markets and regulators play along.

Bolloré nears rare draw in messy Italian campaign

29 November 2019

Vivendi is to sell 20% of Mediaset, part of a broad truce with the Berlusconi-controlled broadcaster. The deal ends a wasteful legal row with little financial damage for Vivendi’s top investor Vincent Bolloré. Yet his larger Telecom Italia investment is still deep under water.

Merger Monday is cold comfort in longer M&A slump

26 November 2019

Deals from LVMH, Novartis, Charles Schwab and peers added up to an impressive-looking $70 bln. Yet 2019 transactions volumes are lower than last year, despite record stock markets, and M&A valuations are falling. Trade wars and growth fears have to ease for a sustained pickup.

GM takes FCA to task over past and future slights

21 November 2019

Detroit’s top carmaker claims Fiat Chrysler bribed union officials to get a better deal than GM in contract talks. CEO Mary Barra’s crew even called out her almost-merger partner posthumously. The lawsuit smacks of payback, but its goal must be to gum up Fiat’s deal with Peugeot.