MILANO – Mediaset for Europe shares soar on the day of Silvio Berlusconi’s death. The Stock Exchange bets right away that there may be some upheaval within the family or that it may decide to sell the television group founded by the Knight. The Dutch-registered holding company listed on Piazza Affari jumped by 10% right at the beginning of the morning, close to the news and then reduced the gain in the second part of the session: in category A the leap was 5.86% to 0.5 euro, reducing the distance compared to the share in category B (+2.32% to 0.70) , to which 10 voting rights are assigned. However, the same speculations did not concern the other listed companies in the Berlusconi galaxy, such as Mondadori (+1,54%) e Mediolanum (+0,39%).
The assets left by Berlusconi: from Mediaset to Monza, with real estate they exceed 3.6 billion. The crux of the transfer of Fininvest shares to children
by Luca Piana
Given the stock market movements, a note comes out from the Fininvest headquarters in the early afternoon that tends to cool spirits. “Silvio Berlusconi’s creative strength, his entrepreneurial genius, constant correctness of conduct, extraordinary humanity have always been the inalienable heritage of the group companies. And this heritage will remain the basis of all our activities, which will continue in a line of absolute continuity in every respect”.
So does it continue like this? To understand something more we will have to wait for the opening of the will, which should exist according to what is learned in financial circles, and which could include a more precise division of the group given that Italian law allows one third of one’s assets to be allocated to whomever one wants . As for Mediolanum, which is the shareholding that is worth the most on the Stock Exchange (1.8 billion), Silvio’s exit from the scene also means forgetting the ECB-Bank of Italy procedure which forced the co-founder of the Ennio Doris group to drop from 30 to 10% of the capital following the 2013 sentence that had condemned him. While in Mondadori control with 53.3% seems to be firmly in the hands of Fininvest.
The risk of the TVs gets back on track, Mfe tries again the way of the European pole
by Giovanni Pons
The agreement between Fininvest and the French Vivendi on control of Mediaset dates back to two years ago. After five years of legal battles, which arose following the hostile takeover by Vincent Bolloré in 2016 of just under 30% of the capital, the weapons have been laid down, as evidenced by yesterday’s French release: “Silvio Berlusconi’s contribution to the world of the media has left an indelible mark. His charm and energy will remain in everyone’s memory”.
As part of the agreement, Fininvest took over 5% of Mediaset from Vivendi which brought it close to 50%, the headquarters were moved to the Netherlands, and Vivendi undertook to sell the rest of the shares if the stock remained above certain price thresholds. But in the last two years, Mediaset’s share price has continued to fall and therefore Vivendi has kept most of those shares in its portfolio: today it still owns about 23% of Mediaset. Therefore, Alfa Romeo is not technically scalable but it is still possible that in the face of an important purchase offer, Fininvest, which is controlled by all five of Berlusconi’s sons, decides to pass the hand. In the long legal battle, the children Marina and Pier Silvio strongly opposed the climber Bolloré, so the road is uphill. Furthermore, Bolloré and his lieutenant Arnaud de Puyfontaine are having another standoff, this time with the government, for control of Tim. And the latest events suggest that the Meloni government is intent on reducing Vivendi’s role in Italy rather than making it grow perhaps with the purchase of Mediaset. And it is also true that the merger between Telecom and Mediaset has always been a forte of Vivendi precisely to seek a turning point in the two Italian histories in which they have become entangled.
So Bolloré took over Mediaset and infuriated Berlusconi
by Giovanni Pons
The other solution for Mediaset, which has been rumored in recent weeks, it concerns the possibility that Urbano Cairo, publisher of RCS and La7 and first assistant to Berlusconi, is trying to put together a consortium to take over Mediaset. It would be an all-Italian solution but which would encounter regulatory obstacles (it would exceed 20% of the Sic) and probably also political ones. But for even one of these things to happen, the Berlusconi children need to declare themselves sellers, and at the moment the declarations are of the opposite sign.