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The investment vehicle of longtime Pirelli boss Marco Tronchetti Provera is increasing its stake in the Milan-based tyremaker months after the Italian government curbed the rights of China-based Sinochem, its largest shareholder.
Following a two-stage transaction involving Tronchetti Provera’s financial concern and Camfin, the holding company of Pirelli’s Italian investors, MTP will raise its stake to 20 per cent from a current 14 per cent, according to a statement.
Tronchetti Provera last summer stepped down as Pirelli chief executive after a three-decade tenure but maintains a tight grip on the company now headed by Andrea Casaluci, a close aide. He is currently Pirelli’s executive vice-chair.
Once the transaction completes, the Italian investors will hold 26 per cent of the tyremaker’s voting rights, the statement from Camfin added.
The transactions will not change existing agreements with Italian shareholder Brembo or the provisions on Pirelli’s governance signed with Sinochem, it said.
The stake increase is the latest twist in a long-running saga that has pitted Tronchetti Provera directly against China’s communist party and state-owned chemicals giant Sinochem, which owns a 37 per cent stake in the tyremaker.
Last June, Rome stripped the Chinese company of certain rights over Pirelli, including the ability to appoint a chief executive and data sharing, to limit Beijing’s influence over one of Italy’s most prized industrial brands, which Rome considers a strategic national asset due to its proprietary technology.
The historic decision, a first of its kind, marked a big win for Tronchetti Provera, 75, who took the helm of the company from his father-in-law in 1992.
Sinochem has not commented on its plans for its investment.
Pirelli in October struck a partnership with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund for the construction of a tyre plant in the kingdom.
