Carlo and Ubaldo Colaiacovo launch the new Financo governance structure

The corporate reorganisation of the Financo Group of the Umbrian Colaiacovo family, which controls Colacem and Colabeton, one of Italy's leading cement and concrete producers with plants in Italia, Tunisia, the Dominican Republic and Albania, as well as owning the Misano Autodrome and holdings in a number of non-core companies active in tourism, sports, media and insurance brokerage, has reached its conclusion. The aggregate turnover is about EUR 1.1 billion with 2,600 employees.

The group was created in the 1960s by four brothers - Pasquale, Carlo, Giovanni and Franco (the last two deceased, their sons took over) - each holding a 25% share through personal holdings. Now Carlo Colaiacovo, 83, and his nephew Ubaldo Colaiacovo, 59, Giovanni's son, have exercised the right of pre-emption provided for in the articles of association and acquired the 25% in the hands of Giuseppe, Franco's son, who had been in financial difficulty for some time.

The total price paid for the acquisition - according to a company statement - is EUR 450 million, financed by the banks Natixis and Bpm. In doing so, Carlo and Ubaldo Colaiacovo have each risen to 37.5% of Financo "representing a change in the governance of the Group that favours solidity and development," the note states. The size and complexity of the operation can be deduced from the number of professionals and consulting firms involved.

The saga of the Colaiacovo family, one of the best known in Umbria, has invaded the local news for years, arriving on several occasions in the courtrooms with - most recently - a request for the liquidation of Financo presented by Pasquale Colaiacovo when the clash between two groups each holding 50% of the shares prevented the assembly from functioning (so much so that the 2023 and 2024 budgets were not approved).

Among the twists and turns was also the takeover bid presented for 25% of the group in the hands of Giuseppe Colaiacovo by a group of entrepreneurs united in the company Eques, including Brunello Cucinelli and Gianluca Vacchi, who two years ago had intervened with a €120 million loan to save Giuseppe Colaiacovo's holding company from debt. Cucinelli announced in recent weeks that he was leaving Eques' capital, specifying that "the shareholding never implied any interest in the acquisition or entry into the capital of the Colacem group".