Fineco, Rottapharm and Sisal: a rise in market prices – A trading debut shoots prices up (New York Times, 2 – FinecoBank Shares Rise in Trading Debut in Italy) after a demand for shares that amounted to three times the offer (Reuters, June 27 – IPO of UniCredit unit Fineco three times subscribed – sources). Fineco, Unicredit’s online bank was quoted on the Milan stock exchange and the 600 million euro operation (New York Times, June 27 – UniCredit’s Online Unit Raises at Least $916 Million in I.P.O.) was widely covered by the foreign press and news agencies (Bloomberg, June 27 – UniCredit Sells First Shares in Online Broker) as well as starting the start of a series of sales on the Milan market. There have been other offerings, by the pharmaceutical firm Rottapharm (July 1 su New York Times, July 1 – Rottapharm, an Italian Drug Maker, Sets Price Range for I.P.O.; and Reuters, – Italy’s Rottapharm sets IPO price range at 7.25-9 euros/shr) and the gaming group Sisal (Reuters, 1° – Italy’s Sisal sets IPO price range at 6.3-7.7 euros/shr).
However, Italian businesses were in the spotlight even outside the Milan exchange. According to Le Figaro, Andrea Bonomi has joined the positioning for control of Club Med with a bid that ends in September (Reuters, June 30 – Italy’s Bonomi sees bid for Club Med ending early Sept), while the French tourist operator’s price has shot up (Bloomberg Businessweek, July 1 – Club Med Surges to Five-Year High on $1.1 Billion Bonomi Bid).
Investments in Italy and abroad – On the other hand, investment flows to and from Italy continue. The cost of Italy’s debt has dropped substantially (Bloomberg Businessweek, June 27 – Italy Borrowing Costs Drop to Record at Zero-Coupon Debt Sale) while Etihad is on the brink of entering Alitalia (The Hindu, June 27 – Etihad agrees to acquire 49% of Alitalia; deal soon). The agreement will allow the Emirate company to complete its global presence (Bloomberg Businessweek, June 27 – With Alitalia, Etihad Adds to Its Global Stable of Airlines). In addition, foreign investors seemed attracted by the public real estate agency’s offering of historical properties (Wall Street Journal, July 1 – Italy Encounters a Chilly Market for Pieces of History), and the Financial Times reported on the managerial success in the world of SMIs. Dallara, explained the British paper, has based its top level technological success on innovation and knowledge (July 2 – Dallara Automobili: knowledge company).
Meanwhile, Reuters, reported on an Italian investment abroad: Amplifon is showing interest in its French rival Audika (27 – Italy’s Amplifon looking at French rival Audika), and La Vanguardia ran a blog post about the 100 years of activity of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Barcelona, a presence that started with the Catalan port and grew with the close ties between the city and Italy (June 29 – Cien años de italianidad).
Culture and food – As always, the foreign press wrote about Italian culture, life and style. One of the major stories was the restoration of the Trevi Fountain, sponsored by Fendi (July 1 in The Times – Rome’s Trevi fountain gets fashion facelift with £2m Fendi makeover* and El Pais – Arrancan las obras de restauración de la Fontana de Trevi). The Spanish paper also reviewed Bob Rondelli’s latest record and its Mediterranean voluptuousness (June 29 – Voluptuosidad mediterránea), and there were other reports on Italian cooking and the benefits of the Mediterranean diet (June 29 – Voluptuosidad mediterránea). The Sunday Times ran a piece on the recipes of Italian chef in London, Giorgio Locatelli (June 29 – The Classic: Giorgio Locatelli’s linguine with sardine and wild fennel), and El Mundo reported the new proposals of Costa for culinary cruises (El Mundo, June 27 – Crucero gourmet a la italiana). Finally, the New York Times traveled to Italy with suggestions about where to dine gluten-free (June 29 Gluten-Free Dining in Italy).
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