Yoox, the largest online luxury store – The merger between the Italian Yoox and the Swiss Net-a-Porter has created the largest e-trade operator in the luxury sector according to the foreign press, commenting on a deal that will list the group on the Milan stock market once integration is completed (March 31 and April 1 on Reuters, March 31 – Yoox agrees to buy Richemont’s Net-a-Porter in all-share deal; Les Echos, 1 – Richemont fusionne sa filiale Net-A-porter avec l’italien Yoox ; Financial Times, March 31 – Yoox bags Net-a-Porter in merger plan*; Wall Street Journal, March 31 – Net-a-Porter to Merge Into Yoox Group*; New York Times, March 31 – Yoox to Merge With Net-a-Porter in All-Share Deal*).
Talk about this merger creating a group worth 2.6 billion euro circulated all week, encouraging a substantial rise in Yoox share on the Milan stock exchange. (Reuters, March 29 – Yoox could unveil deal to buy Net-a-Porter this week-sources; Financial Times, March 30 – Yoox and Net-a-Porter confirm merger talks*; Wall Street Journal, March 30 – Yoox Confirms It Is in Talks With Net-A-Porter*).
Investments coming, optimism in Italy – The news of the week of course was the Yoox-Net-a-porter merger but the foreign press was also interested in other recent investments by foreign groups, especially the Swiss Dufri’s takeover of World Duty Free from the Benetton family (Reuters, March 29 – Swiss Dufry buys Italy’s World Duty Free in 3.5 bln euro deal; Financial Times, March 29 – Swiss group Dufry snaps up Italian rival World Duty Free*; Wall Street Journal, March 29 – Hudson News Owner to Buy World Duty Free*) and the acquisition of ChemChina of a part of the Pirelli capital. As Marco Tronchetti Provera explained, this is not the beginning of foreign colonialism but the right decision for the company’s future (Reuters, March 27 – Pirelli CEO sees strong future with ChemChina, no talks on counterbid; Financial Times, March 27 – Pirelli boss Tronchetti Provera displays savvy dealmaking skills*; Bloomberg, April 2 – Pirelli’s Patriarch Turns to China to Protect Legacy). And as Ren Jianxin, the CEO of ChemChina, once the deal is complete, the goal is to bring Pirelli back to the stock exchange (New York Times, March 29 – ChemChina Chairman Says Hopes to Re-List Pirelli in Italy*).
All told, investors seem to be taking a approving look at Italy. So, while Fincanieri announces a large commission of nine cruise ships by Carnival (Bloomberg, March 26 – Carnival to Add Nine New Cruise Ships Starting in 2019 ), and the Government has announced a rise in estimates of the GDP in 2015 2015 (Les Echos, March 29 – L’Italie va relever sa prévision de croissance à 0,7% – ministre), international investments funds declare themselves optimistic on the prospects of recovery. This was explained by Colin McLean, director of the investment fund SVM Asset Manager (Bloomberg, March 31 – We’re Particularly Optimistic on Italy: McLean), and in the most recent report of Credit Suisse, as reported by Les Echos (April 1 – « La nouvelle Renaissance italienne », selon Credit Suisse).
Tourism, from Expo to the Jubilee – Great upcoming events are moving the spotlight of international papers to Italy, in particular where tourist destinations are concerned. A month before the opening of the Universal Exposition, Les Echos, Liberation and Bloomberg wrote about Milan with a description of what to see and do in the city during Expo’s six months (March 27 – Voyage: Milan avant l’expo, Milan : 10 spots pour voir et être vu ; 30 – L’Exposition universelle 2015 à Milan: April 1 – Milan Catches Sharing-Economy Bug as It Prepares for World Expo; Milan, la ville universelle).
Liberation on the other hand gave its readers a short guide of what to see in Rome before the city is overcome with the waves of visitors foreseen for next year’s Jubilee(March 27 – Rome, Urbi et péri-urbi). And the New York Times also visited the capital to capture the tradition and the rediscovered intensity of the Orchestra of Santa Cecilia (March 31 – Italian Orchestra Rediscovers Its Intensity*).
There was also interest in Turin, where the newly reopened Egyptian Museum has doubled the space for its pharaonic exhibition (New York Times, March 31 – Turin Egyptian Museum Gets Overhaul of Pharaonic Proportions*). Finally, the Nouvel Observateur took a brief hourney around the peninsula, suggesting where readers can find Italy’s five most beautiful hotels (April 1 – Le top 5 des plus beaux hôtels italiens).
Wines and cuisine – There were also numerous articles on Italian culinary arts. Vinitaly in particular was an occasion to present wines produced in the Bel Paese (with reviews of the events published especially in Brazilian papers such as Valor Economico, March 26 – Vinitaly 2015, boas surpresas e velhos problemas; O Globo, March 27 – Vinitaly, a mais importante feira de vinhos da Itália) and discuss plans to relaunch Italian exports in the sector (Les Echos, March 27 – Le vin italien veut relancer le moteur des exportations). Still, Italian labels are very popular world wide as the Washington Post showed, including Barbera d’Asti and Nebbiolo delle Langhe among five wines that it suggested for spring tasting (March 29 – 5 wines for warmer weather).
And while – as Le Figaro and L’Express explain – pizza has been nominated to become part of UNESCO’s world heritage (March 27 – La pizza candidate au patrimoine de l’UNESCO; La pizza napolitaine veut être inscrite au Patrimoine mondial de l’Unesco), the Wall Street Journal also wrote about Neapolitan tradition, offering its readers an Easter treat, the recipe for the traditional Pastiera (March 26 – Pastiera, a Traditional Italian Easter Dessert). El Pais, on the other hand, suggested some of the best dishes to taste in Rome (March 27 – La pizza fina y la pasta al dente), while the Wall Street Journal wrote about Davide Oldani and the chef’s plans for new restaurants (March 30 – Davide Oldani of D’O Restaurant Expands His Empire*). L’Express also reported on Italian chefs, with an interview of Massimo Bottura about his new book (April 1 – “Les chefs ne peuvent plus se contenter de faire la cuisine”).
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