Italian finance – The current price of Financantieri, the plans of Fiat, and foreign investments financial news from Italy is ever present in the foreign press. Les Echos announced the new public stock offering of the national shipbuilder as of July 2, (June 16 – En Italie, le constructeur naval Fincantieri bientôt en Bourse), other papers reported on the plans of Fiat-Chrysler. After its announcement of the merger (Expansion, June 15 – Fiat aprueba el proyecto de fusión con Chrysler), the group placed over 5 billion dollars in bonds on the market, with the aim of lowering the cost of its debt (June 15 in the Wall Street Journal – Fiat Approves Sale of $5.42 Billion in Bonds* and Bloomberg – Fiat’s Board Authorizes $5.4 Billion in New Bonds) and to continue to attract American investors (Financial Times, June 19 – Fiat-Chrysler targets big US investor base).
But there were other interesting developments in the Italian automotive sector. Vodafone announced its plans to spend 145 million to acquire the group Cobra, specialized in automotive electronics. The company is becoming popular in international markets, from Brazil to China (June 17 in Wall Street Journal – Vodafone to Buy Cobra Automotive*; China Post – Vodafone says to buy Italy’s Cobra Automotive for 145 million euros).
And with the Milano stock market is becoming more and more attractive, the Porta Nuova financial district was inaugurated (Financial Times, June 13 – Milan’s high-rise financial hub gives bankers mixed views).
Another item of financial news that the foreign press followed was the appointment of Paolo Scaroni as vice president of the Rothschild bank (June 19 in the Financial Times – Former Eni chief Scaroni to be deputy-chairman at Rothschild* and Wall Street Journal, Italian Businessman Paolo Scaroni to Join Rothschild*).
Culture and cuisine – As always, the foreign press showed its interest in Italian culture and culinary arts. The Washington Post reported on the new calendar for Teatro della Scala for Expo 2015 (June 17 – La Scala offers extra shows for Milan world’s fair), and El Pais ran a piece on the Festival of Contemporary Dance at the Biennale di Venezia (June 16 – El baile se alía a la arquitectura en Venecia).
Meanwhile, the Financial Times focused on the rich heritage Italian wines coming from the world’s largest variety of terrains (June 13 – The rich heritage of Italian wines*) and the Wall Street Journal described to its readers the art of risotto making that lives in New York (June 15 – The Art of Making Risotto). And finally, the French weekly L’Express paid homage to Rome, rediscovering the Eternal City, from a gastronomic as well as an artistic point of view (June 15 – Rome: le grand réveil de la Ville éternelle). Its interest including one particularly interesting mention, the carbonara pasta of the Salumeria Roscioli (June 13 – Rome: la pasta diva des frères Roscioli)
The soccer revolution – Class, power and style (Washington Post, June 14 – Pirlo and Balotelli provide Italy class and power) were the ingredients that led to a revolution of Italian soccer, according to the international papers (El Pais, June 15 – La revolución de Italia).
With the beginning of the World Cup and the win over England of Italy’s team headed by Cesare Prandelli (Time, June 15 – Balotelli Goal Gives Italy 2-1 Win Over England), numerous articles were dedicated to the blue team. A great deal of attention was focused on captain Andrea Pirlo (June 15 in The Times – Andrea Pirlo the master casts his spell for Azzurri; and O Globo – Pirlo sobre vitória contra ingleses: ‘Vi uma Itália valente que queria se impor’), and various papers discussed Italy’s chances of winning the World Cup (Wall Street Journal, June 13 – Italy Remains Stylish for the World Cup*; El Mundo, June 15 – Italia, ¿el próximo campeón?).
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