Italian tire manufacturer Pirelli – the primary tire supplier to Formula One – was the target of an attempted takeover by its largest shareholder, Chinese state-owned chemical company, Sinochem, but the maneuver is being blocked by Italy’s government to protect Milan-based Pirelli’s independence.
Pirelli was sold for $7.8 billion in 2015 to a combination of investors that comprised ChemChina and Italy-based Camfin, but ChemChina merged with state-owned Sinochem in 2021. Sinochem holds 37% of the 151-year-old company and combined with Chinese state-owned Silk Road investment fund’s 9% Pirelli ownership, essentially owns majority control of Pirelli
Beijing-controlled Sinochem had informed the Italian government in March 2023 that they had intended to modify the existing shareholder pact, but in a statement to investors, the Italian company quashed any takeover attempts by Sinochem saying the Italian government had ruled that only Camfin – a company controlled by Pirelli’s boss Marco Tronchetti Provera – could nominate candidates to be its chief executive and that the Italian government had decided that any changes to the company’s corporate governance should be subject to official scrutiny.