Italy

Fiat and Peugeot throw stardust into new car mix

16 July 2020

Is it a new cocktail, a lost city, a painkiller, the easyJet founder? By renaming themselves Stellantis, FCA and Peugeot are seeking to add futuristic sparkle to their marriage. Like others before them - from Diageo to Mondelez to Altria - actions will mean more than new words.

Italian bank consolidation gets messier from here

16 July 2020

Intesa’s ballsy UBI bid is turning ideal partner BPM into a banking orphan. Larger rival UniCredit isn’t keen to swallow it. Rival BPER will be busy integrating branches. That leaves complicated options like deals with the state or a politically toxic sale to a French lender.

Italy road saga hands Benettons life-saving finale

15 July 2020

The clan’s infrastructure group Atlantia could end a government dispute over a bridge disaster by letting state actors invest in its motorway unit, and list it. The shakedown may leave the group with a stake worth just 5 bln euros, but it’s better than a threatened expropriation.

Benettons face only bad options in Italy road row

13 July 2020

Premier Giuseppe Conte wants the family to exit their motorway unit to end a dispute over a collapsed bridge. A cut-price deal would shrink indebted owner Atlantia’s EBITDA by nearly a third. But failure to comply would likely cost the 10 bln euro group its Italian concession.

DiaSorin offers rare bright spot in Italian gloom

10 July 2020

The $11 bln company’s Covid-19 kits may not be as iconic as Prada bags or Ferrari cars. But they sell like hot cakes in a pandemic. If the virus wanes, so will its tests' appeal. Still, DiaSorin’s biotech focus is a step-up from traditional Made in Italy products.

Italian $4 bln bank deal may suit government most

1 July 2020

Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena could merge with rival BPM, Reuters reported, helping the state shed its 68% stake. A likely selldown would weigh on the enlarged group’s shares, as would MPS’ high costs and bad debt. The problem for BPM is that it's running out of alternatives.

Agnellis can win twice from EU auto merger probe

29 June 2020

Brussels is worried the union of Peugeot and Fiat, controlled by the Italian clan, will dominate van sales. High margins make it hard to justify outsized market share. Selling models to a smaller rival like Agnelli-backed CNH would boost competition and let the merger pass.

Ray-Ban mogul’s late financial quest is baffling

19 June 2020

Leonardo Del Vecchio is building his shareholding in Mediobanca. The investment bank’s stake in insurer Generali puts it at the heart of Italian corporate power. The 85-year-old may be motivated by financial gains or prestige. Equally unclear is who inherits his expanded empire.

Italy’s soccer woes give buyout firms an open goal

17 June 2020

CVC and Bain Capital are vying to take a stake in the country’s top Serie A league. Empty stadiums will strain clubs’ finances, while broadcasters have dragged their feet on handing over 1.3 bln euros of annual TV money. It offers a rare opportunity for a cut-price cash transfer.

Italy gives sovereign debt revolution a nudge

12 June 2020

The country will sell bonds whose payout is linked to how GDP evolves. It’s a first step that only targets domestic savers. But cultivating an international market for such securities could help countries, particularly ones locked into the euro, to better weather economic shocks.

Regulator clash makes Intesa’s UBI bid more costly

10 June 2020

Italy’s antitrust watchdog thinks the bank’s takeover of its smaller peer will hurt competition. This contrasts with the ECB’s favourable view of the deal. For Intesa CEO Carlo Messina, reconciling the two views could mean selling more branches or paying a higher price.

GVS offers hedge against an even darker world

9 June 2020

The Italian maker of biohazard masks used to guard against Covid-19 is selling a 40% stake. Listing itself at a 1.4 bln euro valuation driven by surging sales makes sense for GVS’s owners. But if a new virus wave occurs, it may also offset investors’ losses elsewhere.

Italy just can’t quit its terrible Alitalia habit

15 May 2020

Using the virus as cover, Rome earmarked 3 bln euros for the stricken airline, twice the boost it’s offering to its education system. That adds to 10 bln euros taxpayers wasted on Alitalia since 2008. The EU may declare it unfair state aid. But the cash will have already flown.

The Agnellis move from hunting to hunkering down

13 May 2020

With a planned $9 bln cash windfall from selling PartnerRe and fat dividends from merging Fiat with Peugeot, the Italian billionaire family was set just months ago for a global, diversification shopping spree. Exor is a case study in how quickly the pandemic shifts fortunes.

ArcelorMittal spring clean has dark hint of winter

12 May 2020

Shares in the world’s largest steelmaker slumped after it said it would raise $2 bln of shares and equity-linked debt. Cutting borrowing is prudent with lockdowns sapping demand. The unexpected nature of the move, and partial take-up by the Mittal family, are less reassuring.

Corona Capital: SPAC reversal, Italy, Toilet paper

8 May 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Dan Loeb’s blank-check company tries to nix a deal; Italians warily get back to work; Australian TP panic subsides.

UniCredit gets little reward for virus caution

6 May 2020

Covid-19 provisions and restructuring costs risk erasing the $16 bln Italian bank’s profit this year. CEO Jean Pierre Mustier is being more prudent than his peers, but that is not reflected in a lowly stock price. At least investors stand to gain more when the recovery comes.

Pandemic strengthens Intesa’s hand in M&A battle

5 May 2020

The Covid-19 crisis is clouding the $27 bln bank’s growth prospects. CEO Carlo Messina may struggle to pay dividends he promised in a hostile bid for peer UBI. Still, the worse outlook makes it harder for the target’s shareholders to reject the scale and savings from a merger.

Pandemic stalls Ferrari’s Formula 1 turboboost

4 May 2020

Bans on mass events are disrupting this year’s racing season. That’s bad for the luxury carmaker, which in 2019 made 14% of its revenue from Grand Prix events and branding. While the core auto business should hold up, a lack of action on the tracks leaves growth in the slow lane.

Italy gives glimpse into post-pandemic dealmaking

28 April 2020

Politicians in Rome want to wed gas-grid operator Snam with power network Terna. Creating a 25 bln euro group would offer few cost savings and blur their industrial missions. It’s a sign that governments will want bigger, less-risky, more-diversified “champions” in the future.