The designated successor to Pirelli & C. SpA Chief Executive Officer Marco Tronchetti Provera will leave the company days after the Italian government ruled that the tiremaker’s biggest Italian shareholder can name its next CEO, according to a statement Tuesday confirming an earlier report by Bloomberg.
(Bloomberg) — The designated successor to Pirelli & C. SpA Chief Executive Officer Marco Tronchetti Provera will leave the company days after the Italian government ruled that the tiremaker’s biggest Italian shareholder can name its next CEO, according to a statement Tuesday confirming an earlier report by Bloomberg.
Deputy CEO Giorgio Bruno, 63, had been a joint choice to take the reins at the Formula 1 tiremaker after a new board is appointed later this year — he was proposed by Tronchetti’s Camfin SpA holding as the CEO’s successor, though he was also part of a board slate nominated by the company’s top investor, China’s Sinochem International Corp.
That succession plan was part of a proposed shareholder pact between Sinochem, which holds about 37% of the company’s shares, and Camfin, which has just over 14%.
But a June 16 decision by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government reinstates the balance of power in Camfin’s favor, giving the holding the unquestioned right to name Pirelli’s next CEO, who will now be chosen entirely by the Italian side.
Camfin will propose Tronchetti and Andrea Casaluci for the roles of executive vice chairman and CEO at Pirelli, the holding said. Casaluci, 50, has been at Pirelli since 2002, and he’s been general manager for operations since 2018.
The government ruling came under Italy’s broad “Golden Power” facility, which gives the state oversight on deals involving assets deemed to be of national strategic interest. The decision cited patents Pirelli holds and threats in technological areas like motion sensors that could arise from Chinese dominance of the company’s governance.
Read More: Italy Gives Camfin Right to Name Pirelli CEO, Curbing China
Pirelli shares fell as much as 3.3% in Milan trading on Tuesday after the initial Bloomberg report that Bruno would leave the company. The stock traded down 2.6% at 3:32 p.m. local time.
Bruno now plans to pursue other entrepreneurial interests, Camfin said.
The change in succession could pave the way for Tronchetti to shore up his leadership role at Pirelli, which he’s headed for about 30 years. Bruno had been seen as Tronchetti’s heir ever since co-CEO Angelos Papadimitriou stepped down in 2021.
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