Sinochem executives on Pirelli board may be in breach of Italian rules
MILAN, Nov 8 (Reuters) -Italy is checking whether the presence of Sinochem 600500.SS executives on Pirelli's PIRC.MI board is in breach of measures Rome imposed to protect the tyremaker's autonomy, a senior government official said.
The Italian government can use so-called "golden powers" to shield companies deemed as strategic from foreign influence or takeovers.
Italy last year took steps to curb the influence of China's state-owned Sinochem, which holds a 37% stake in Pirelli, including a mandatory qualified majority for strategic decisions made by the board.
"If there are prescriptions and non-compliance is verified, the prescriptions are followed by sanctions," Cabinet Undersecretary Alfredo Mantovano said on Friday.
"Rome's prescriptions require a non-foreign presence in the management of sensitive information. Now the issue is whether this type of caution has been observed," Mantovano - a close aide to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni - told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Milan.
Pirelli said earlier this week that Italy was investigating a possible breach by Sinochem of the government provisions.
Rome's move comes against a backdrop of rising trade tensions between Beijing and the European Union, which has just imposed new tariffs of up to 45.3% on Chinese-built electric vehicles.
Pirelli's second largest shareholder, with a 25.7% stake, is Camfin, the vehicle of Italian businessman Marco Tronchetti Provera, who has been in charge of Pirelli since 1992 and now holds the role of executive vice chairman.
Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari. Editing by Jane Merriman
Related Assets
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
