CDP Equity

Cassa Depositi e Prestiti Equity S.p.A. (formerly Fondo Strategico Italiano S.p.A.; FSI S.p.A.) also known as CDP Equity S.p.A., is a majority state-owned Italian sovereign wealth fund established in 2011. Its purpose is to invest in strategic Italian companies to help them to compete globally.

CDP Equity S.p.A.
Native name
Cassa Depositi e Prestiti Equity S.p.A.
FormerlyFondo Strategico Italiano S.p.A.
TypeSocietà per azioni
IndustryFinancial services
Founded2011 (2011)
FounderCassa Depositi e Prestiti
HeadquartersPalazzo Busca,
Milan
,
Italy
Area served
Italy
Key people
ServicesMerchant bank
Increase €249.446 million (2014)
Total assetsIncrease €5.564 billion (2014)
Total equityIncrease €4.833 billion (2014)
OwnerCassa Depositi e Prestiti (100%)
ParentCDP Group
Websitewww.cdpequity.it
Footnotes / references
In separate financial statements[1]

History

The fund was established in 2011 as Fondo Strategico Italiano.[2]: 25  Its mandate was to invest in strategic Italian companies to help them to compete globally.[2]: 25  The fund's activity is restricted to healthy and profitable Italian businesses, with solid growth prospects, in need of capital injection to enlarge their business and be competitive on a global scale.[3] The initial capital of the fund totalled €1 billion, with 90% of this sum contributed by CDP and 10% from Fintecna. The CDP is ready to inject a total amount of €4 billion.[4]

The fund was set up by the state-controlled lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) on the directive of Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti, emulating a similar fund in France, allegedly after French dairy company Groupe Lactalis SA made a successful takeover bid for Parmalat.[5]

The fund become a member of the International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds and signed up to the Santiago Principles on best precise on managing Sovereign Wealth Funds.[6][7][8]

In September 2011, Maurizio Tamagnini, formerly a top investment banker at Merrill Lynch, was hired as the CEO of the fund.[5] The position of chairman is filled by Giovanni Gorno Tempini, who was also the CEO of CDP, and is now its chairman of the board.[9]

On 31 March 2016, Fondo Strategico Italiano was renamed into CDP Equity.[10]

On 5 August 2016, Bank of Italy withdrew its 20% stake from CDP Equity.[11]

Investments

In May 2012, the Italian Strategic Fund stated that it would give financial backing to help fund a project that will bring fiber-optic cable to Italy's main cities, as part of the country's attempt to increase high-speed internet connectivity. The €4.5 billion project, led by fibre-optic company Metroweb (was a subsidiary of F2i First Fund via F2i Reti TLC) will receive an initial €200 million from Fondo Strategico Italiano through F2i Reti TLC. There is also an option for the fund to provide a further €300 million.[12]

In May 2012, the Fondo Strategico Italiano acquired an 18.6% stake in biopharmaceutical company Kedrion S.p.A. from holding company Sestant S.p.A. for a total of €150 million. In addition, the Fondo Strategico Italiano has an option to acquire a majority stake in Kedrion from Sestant.[13]

Also in May 2012, the defence and aerospace group Finmeccanica agreed to sell its 14% stake in aero-engine parts maker Avio to the Fondo Strategico Italiano. According to Finmeccanica, the deal is subject to Avio being listed on the Milan stock exchange before the end of 2012.[14] In November 2012, Prime Minister Mario Monti, signed with the Government of Qatar a €2 billion development project; the main investor is Qatar Holding.[15]

It was announced in March 2014, that the Fondo Strategico Italiano had made a non-binding offer for a 30% stake in the Spanish olive oil producer Deoleo.[16]

In July 2016 Enel Open Fiber acquired Metroweb from F2i SGR and Cassa Depositi e Prestiti. However, CDP Equity also acquired 50% stake in Open Fiber.[17][18][19]

References
  1. "2014 Bilancio" [2014 Annual Report] (PDF) (in Italian). Fondo Strategico Italiano. 19 May 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 December 2016. Retrieved 26 September 2016.
  2. Liu, Zongyuan Zoe (2023). Sovereign Funds: How the Communist Party of China Finances its Global Ambitions. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674271913.
  3. SWF Institute. "Italian Strategic Fund". SWF Institute.
  4. SWF Institute. "Italian Strategic Fund". SWF Institute.
  5. Christopher Emsden (12 September 2011). "Tamagnini Named CEO of Italian Strategic Fund". Wall Street Journal.
  6. International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds. "IFSWF Our members". Archived from the original on 27 September 2016. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  7. CDPequity.it. "Invest with CDP Equity". Retrieved 28 October 2016.
  8. "Santiago Principles Self-Assessment - CDP Equity SpA". Retrieved May 29, 2021.
  9. "Executive Profile: Giovanni Gorno Tempini". Bloomberg Businessweek. Archived from the original on January 18, 2013.
  10. "FSI - About us".
  11. "The Bank of Italy's capital withdrawal from CDP Equity (formerly FSI SpA)". Bank of Italy. 5 August 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  12. Stephen Jewkes, Luca Trogni and Danilo Masoni (28 May 2012). "Italy fund to inject up to 500 mln euro in fibre rollout". Reuters.
  13. Research Views (28 May 2012). "Fondo Strategico Italiano Acquires 18.6% Stake In Kedrion From Sestant For $188 Million". Research Views. Archived from the original on 1 February 2013.
  14. Stephen Jewkes and Hans-Juergen Peters (31 May 2012). "Finmeccanica to sell Avio stake to state-led fund". Reuters. Archived from the original on 1 June 2012. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  15. "Italy's Monti seals investment deal with Qatar".
  16. "Italy strategic fund says made offer for stake in Spain's Deoleo". Reuters. 6 March 2014. Archived from the original on 7 March 2014. Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  17. "OPEN FIBER PERFEZIONA L'ACQUISIZIONE DI METROWEB". www.enelopenfiber.it (in Italian). Retrieved 2016-12-24.
  18. "OPEN FIBER: CDA APPROVA FUSIONE METROWEB". www.enelopenfiber.it (in Italian). Retrieved 2017-01-27.
  19. "ENEL ACCELERATES ON BROADBAND WITH METROWEB ACQUISITION". www.enel.com.
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