GEDI media group considers Agnelli approach
Exor in talks to buy 43% of newsprint business from De Benedetti family
John Elkann, chairman of Fiat Chrysler and scion of Italy’s billionaire Agnelli industrial dynasty, is ready to buy a controlling share of Italy’s leading printed media group, adding it to his ownership of The Economist.
CIR, owner of the holding company behind Italian media group GEDI, is considering an offer from Agnelli investment vehicle Exor to buy its stake in the company behind national newspaper La Repubblica, it said in a statement published late on Friday. CIR will consider the approach at a board meeting on Monday.
A deal could see Exor buy 43 per cent of GEDI from the De Benedetti family. Exor already owns 6 per cent of GEDI, which was created in 2016 after a merger of Turin-based newspaper La Stampa, long owned by the Agnelli family, with the De Benedetti media assets into a single group.
If the De Benedetti dynasty agrees to the sale of their controlling stake, Exor would be forced to bid for the outstanding shares with the aim of taking the group private, according to a person briefed on the discussions. GEDI was worth slightly less than €145m at Friday’s market close.
The move underlines a new dynamism in Mr Elkann’s diversification of his family investment portfolio. He is already in talks to merge Fiat Chrysler, Exor’s biggest investment, with French carmaker Peugeot and the deal is expected to conclude in the next few weeks.
In a meeting with investors last week in Turin, Mr Elkann made clear he was open to Exor making more acquisitions, highlighting the luxury goods industry as one area of interest. He underlined Exor’s interest in providing permanent, long-term capital and support companies in finding management succession.
Media ownership was a passion of his grandfather Gianni Agnelli and Mr Elkann took control of The Economist in 2015. Mr Elkann remains enthusiastic about the potential of news media, in contrast to many.
His move to take control of GEDI comes after a family feud among the De Benedetti dynasty broke into the open in October pitting patriarch Carlo De Benedetti against his sons Rodolfo and Marco De Benedetti.
Mr De Benedetti made a bid to buy back a stake in the group he had handed over to his offspring and accused his sons of mismanagement. His offer was rejected but the public bust-up has caused frictions in the newsroom and across the company.