Business news in Italy – Italy continues to take centre stage in business news. After devoting their attention to Ferrari and Poste Italiane in recent weeks leading up to their listing on the bourse, international dailies are continuing to show an interest in Italian groups. Financial Times is concentrating on the Prancing Horse: an opinion piece in its famous Lex column analyzes the group’s economic structure, underscoring the importance of the brand and declaring that, despite the considerable investment required by Formula 1, Ferrari’s business “is built to go the distance.” (October 23 – Ferrari: bourse power*). The British daily then turns to the history of the Ferrari family, explaining how Enzo, Piero’s son and heir, continues to uphold the founder’s values at the company (October 23 – Sole bearer of the Ferrari name vows to uphold its values*).
At any rate, for the group that has just reported a new increase in profits (Bloomberg, 28 October – Ferrari Predicts Profit Gain Ahead of Supercar Brand’s Spinoff ), the listing operation was a success that other car makers might emulate, beginning with Aston Martin (Sunday Times, October 25 – Follow that Ferrari: float fires up Aston*)
Poste Italiane is also making news, with other articles reporting on the results of the initial public offering and its valuation nearing $ 10 billion (The New York Times, October 23 – Poste Italiane Valued at $9.9 Billion in I.P.O.*; October 23 – Italian Post Office Sell-Off to Raise More Than 3 Billion Euros*; Bloomberg, October 23 – Poste Italiane Initial Stock Sale Raises About $3.5 Billion : Les Echos, October 25 – Poste Italiane réussit son introduction en bourse*).
This week has also seen interest in other Italian groups: Enel is reportedly evaluating a merger with its own subsidiary Enel Green Power, seen as a “growth engine for the group” thanks to its ability to generate cash (Reuters, October 27 – Enel looking at folding Enel Green Power into group; October 27 – Enel looks to strengthen grip on green power unit: Bloomberg, October 27 – Italy’s Enel Evaluating Plan to Repurchase Stake in Enel Green), while Saipem is ready to leave its parent company ENI (Financial Times, October 28 – Saipem: leaving home).
Also on the radar are Luxottica’s plans as it seeks to further expand its retail operations (Reuters, October 26 – Luxottica to step up retail expansion to sustain strong profit growth), as well as some Italian business figures: current newsmakers include the CEO of Alliance Boots, the Milanese Stefano Pessina, who Financial Times reports is planning to “dominate global pharmaceuticals distribution” (October 27 – Veteran Italian dealmaker extends US reach*), and the new managing director of RCS Mediagroup Laura Cioli (El Mundo, October 27 – Laura Cioli, nueva consejera delegada de RCS MediaGroup).
Culture, lifestyle, fashion – Other reports regard Italian culture, lifestyle, and fashion – a world always attractive to the foreign press. The New York Times reports on the new project that the American artist Christo is planning to open in June on Lake Iseo (October 22 – Next From Christo: Art That Lets You Walk on Water*), and makes a stop in Florence to check out Opera del Duomo’s new, “spectacular” sculpture museum of (October 28 – Duomo Unveils Treasure House in Florence, Italy)
The Times, on the other hand, visits Rome, where the so-called “Square Colosseum,” the epitome of fascist architecture, has been transformed into a “temple to high fashion” by Fendi, which has turned it into its headquarters (October 30 – Fendi transforms Mussolini’s fascist HQ into a temple to high fashion*). Another visit is dedicated to fashion, and in particular to designer Rossana Orlandi interviewed in Milan by Die Zeit (October 23 – “Mein Konzept zu Hause ist es, kein Konzept zu haben”). El Pais heads to Verona for a brief tour of the city of Romeo and Juliet (October 23 – ‘Gelato’ con Julieta en Verona). The Spanish daily also looks at music, and with an interview celebrates the 25-year career of singer/songwriter Vinicio Capossela (October 27 – Vinicio Capossela: “Entiendo la música como euforia y muerte”).
In literature, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung has published a review of the latest book by Umberto Eco (October 23 – Umberto Eco: “Nullnummer”). Lastly, the German paper covers wine & food as it joins the Lebanese L’Orient le Jour and Spain’s El Pais to celebrate Italy’s overtaking France as the world’s leading wine producer (October 28 and 29 – L’Italie redevient le champion mondial du vin, devant la France; Italien erobert Spitzenplatz in der Weinproduktion zurück, Italia recupera el trono mundial del vino).
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