Cassa Depositi e Prestiti Equity (CDP Equity), until 2016 known as Fondo Strategico Italiano (''Italian Strategic Fund'') is an Italian

sovereign wealth fund A sovereign wealth fund (SWF), sovereign investment fund, or social wealth fund is a state-owned investment fund that invests in real and financial assets such as stocks, bonds, real estate, precious metals, or in alternative investments such as ...

established in 2011.

History

It has an estimated operating balance of €4 billion. Its purpose is to invest in strategic Italian companies to help them to compete globally. 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. 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. The fund was set up by the state-controlled lender

Cassa Depositi e Prestiti Cassa Depositi e Prestiti S.p.A. (also kwown as CDP or CDP Group) is a prominent Italian investment bank founded on November 20, 1850, in Turin. Its main duty was to finance public works like roads and waterworks during the reign of Victor Emma ...

(CDP) on the directive of Economy Minister

Giulio Tremonti Giulio Tremonti () (born 18 August 1947) is an Italian politician. He served in the government of Italy as Minister of Economy and Finance under Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi from 1994 to 1995, from 2001 to 2004, from 2005 to 2006, and from 20 ...

, emulating a similar fund in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

, allegedly after French dairy company Groupe Lactalis SA made a successful takeover bid for

Parmalat Parmalat S.p.A. is a dairy and food corporation which is a subsidiary of French multinational company Lactalis. It was founded by Calisto Tanzi in 1961. Having become the leading global company in the production of long-life milk using ultra- ...

. The fund become a member of the

International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds The International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds (IFSWF) is a nonprofit international group of sovereign wealth funds managers which was established in 2009. It is based in London, England. History In 2009, a group of 23 leading state-owned i ...

and signed up to the

Santiago Principles The Santiago Principles or formally the Sovereign Wealth Funds: Generally Accepted Principles and Practices (GAPP) are designed as a common global set of 24 voluntary guidelines that assign best practices for the operations of Sovereign Wealth Fu ...

on best precise on managing Sovereign Wealth Funds. In September 2011,

Maurizio Tamagnini Maurizio is an Italian masculine given name, derived from the Ancient Rome, Roman name Mauritius (given name), Mauritius. Mauritius is a derivative of Maurus (disambiguation), Maurus, meaning ''dark-skinned, Moors, Moorish''. List of people with t ...

, formerly a top

investment banker Investment banking pertains to certain activities of a financial services company or a corporate division that consist in advisory-based financial transactions on behalf of individuals, corporations, and governments. Traditionally associated wit ...

Merrill Lynch Merrill (officially Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated), previously branded Merrill Lynch, is an American investment management and wealth management division of Bank of America. Along with BofA Securities, the investment banki ...

, was hired as the CEO of the fund. The position of chairman is filled by

Giovanni Gorno Tempini Giovanni may refer to: * Giovanni (name), an Italian male given name and surname * Giovanni (meteorology), a Web interface for users to analyze NASA's gridded data * ''Don Giovanni'', a 1787 opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, based on the legend of ...

, who was also the CEO of CDP, and is now its chairman of the board. On 31 March 2016 Fondo Strategico Italiano was renamed into CDP Equity. On 5 August 2016

Bank of Italy The Bank of Italy (Italian: ''Banca d'Italia'', informally referred to as ''Bankitalia''), (), is the central bank of Italy and part of the European System of Central Banks. It is located in Palazzo Koch, via Nazionale, Rome. The bank's curre ...

withdrew its 20% stake from CDP Equity.

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 A fiber-optic cable, also known as an optical-fiber cable, is an assembly similar to an electrical cable, but containing one or more optical fibers that are used to carry light. The optical fiber elements are typically individually coated with ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

'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 Metroweb S.p.A. is a fiber-optic network operator based in Milan, Italy. In 2011 it was acquired by F2i Metropolis, a sub-holding company for F2i First Fund (via F2i Reti TLC) and Intesa Sanpaolo Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A. is an Italian internat ...

(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. In May 2012, the Fondo Strategico Italiano acquired an 18.6% stake in biopharmaceutical company Kedrion S.p.A. from

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...

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. Also in May 2012, the defence and aerospace group

Finmeccanica Leonardo S.p.A., formerly Leonardo-Finmeccanica and originally Finmeccanica, is an Italian multinational company specialising in aerospace, defence and security. Headquartered in Rome, Italy, the company has 180 sites worldwide. It is the eighth ...

agreed to sell its 14% stake in aero-engine parts maker

Avio Avio S.p.A. is an Italian company operating in the aerospace sector with its head office in Colleferro near Rome, Italy. Founded in 1908, it is present in Italy and abroad with different commercial offices and 10 production sites. Avio operates ...

to the Fondo Strategico Italiano. According to

, the deal is subject to

being listed on the

Milan stock exchange Borsa Italiana, based in Milan, is the Italian stock exchange. It manages and organises domestic market, regulating procedures for admission and listing of companies and intermediaries and supervising disclosures for listed companies.italy24.il ...

before the end of 2012. 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 Olive oil is a liquid fat obtained from olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea''; family Oleaceae), a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin, produced by pressing whole olives and extracting the oil. It is commonly used in cooking: ...

producer Deoleo.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Sovereign wealth funds Government-owned companies of Italy Partly privatized companies of Italy Companies based in Milan Financial services companies of Italy