Defence, biotech, energy: the Praexidia Foundation is set up to defend strategic supply chains

The Fondazione Praexidia was set up with the aim of protecting and enhancing Italy's strategic industrial sectors: from defence to aerospace, from dual use technologies to strategic infrastructure, from energy to biotechnology. On the one hand, the organisation aims to promote the recognition and awareness of the importance of industrial sectors that are crucial to Italy's national security, technological innovation and competitiveness, with particular reference to sectors protected by Golden Power and to small and medium-sized enterprises, which form the backbone of the Italian industrial system and its technological heritage.

On the other, it wants to support this mission operationally and will sponsor a listed industrial aggregator, to be announced soon, dedicated to the consolidation and growth of Italian companies with high strategic value. The instrument is designed to acquire stakes in companies operating in segments with high technological content, but which are fragmented and undercapitalised. The aim is to aggregate skills, invest in innovation and position these companies as national and European champions, strengthening their presence in global supply chains.

With the start of its activities, the Fondazione Praexidia, in collaboration with Banca Investis (based on PitchBook data), presented its first analysis dedicated to the phenomenon of the transfer of control of Italian companies. The study examined the transactions completed from January 2000 to August 2025 by private equity funds in Italy: against 5,221 transactions carried out by 959 operators, both Italian and international, involving 4,267 Italian companies, 2,073 involved subsequent transfers of ownership (so-called exits or resales) involving 1,560 companies and 1,138 operators, both financial and industrial. Italian acquirers accounted for 35%, while in 65% of the cases the acquisitions involved foreign operators.

"The action of financial operators, which take over companies with the aim of selling them in a few years, and of international companies, which are increasingly active in exploiting Italian manufacturing excellence, has led to the transfer of control of numerous realities, not always translating into a strengthening of the country's productive fabric. Today we are called upon to define what future we want to ensure for emerging companies in strategic sectors on which the very substance of the State depends. The Praexidia Foundation wants to be the cornerstone between entrepreneurs, businesses and investors interested in a sector that is undergoing rapid development and has extraordinary growth prospects,' commented Pierluigi Paracchi, president of the Foundation as well as founder and ceo of Genenta Science, and moderator of the Working Table for the internationalisation of the biotechnology sector set up by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

Also sitting on the nominations committee with him are Gianni Letta, former undersecretary to the prime minister, and Giuseppe Orsi, formerly CEO of Finmeccanica-Leonardo and AgustaWestland, with whom the discussions that led to the foundation of the Foundation were initiated. The board of directors includes Alessandro Aresu, former advisor to the Prime Minister's Office under Mario Draghi; Alvise Biffi, president of Assolombarda; Luca Goretti and Leonardo Tricarico, former chiefs of staff of the Italian Air Force; and Antonio Alunni, vice-president of SMEs of Aiad, the Italian Federation of Aerospace, Defence and Security Companies.