Roberto Colaninno, A symbol of Italian finance and industry for more than fifty years, he died at the age of 80. His journey began in 1969 at Fiam, a Mantuan company specializing in auto components, and for decades he made significant achievements. Olivetti, Telecom and Piaggio, The latter is now a publicly traded company that continues to approach its all-time highs.
Beginning: From Sogefi to Telecom
In 1981, Colaninno founded Sogefi, which was later incorporated into the De Benedetti holding company Cir. His emergence in the public scene was in 1996 when he took over as the Managing Director Olivetti, The Ivrea company, famous for its typewriters and computers, is reinventing itself as the mother of leading private mobile phone company Omnitel and Infostrada, which provides alternative landline services to Telekom, a former monopoly company.
Taking advantage of this solid technological legacy, the public offering of Mannesmann was sold to the Germans and then to Vodafone for more than seven billion euros. In 1999 Telecom Italia was bought over. This fits Romano Prodi’s 1997 decision to privatize telecoms to adjust public finances in the wake of the adoption of the euro.
Following his appointment at Olivetti, Colannino contributes through the Brescia-based company Fingeruppo S.p.A. Olivetti’s major shareholders, along with Fingruppo, include Emilio Gnutti-linked Hopa and Bell and Giovanni Consort, former CEO of Unipol, MPS and later Fininvest. Chase Manhattan serves as the institution’s guarantor, and then-prime minister Massimo D’Elema calls him a “brave captain”. Colacino, although not a part of Bell, takes a primarily industrial perspective on operations.
In the following period, under his leadership, Telecom expands significantly internationally and diversified its activities, ranging from fixed and mobile telephony to the Internet, television (with the launch of the La7), satellite communications to computer systems. However, Bell’s shareholders followed a strictly financial objective and, after only two years, sold Olympia to Marco Tronchetti Provera. Colaninno resigned in disagreement. In accordance with Colaninno’s financial strategy, at the time of his resignation, Olivetti’s debt was not transferred to Telekom.
Arrival at Piaggio
In 2002, thanks to the sale of Olivetti’s incentives, stock options and minority shareholdings, Colaninno proposed to acquire Imsi, a company in the real estate sector, transformed into an industrial holding, which was acquired in 2003. . Piaggio, Subsequently, in December 2004, it further expanded the industrial scope through I motorcycle brands Aprilia and Moto Guzzi, Entering the motorcycle sector. In 2006, with a listing operation, he got out of debt.
since, The group looks quite different: Excellence in the European scooter and motorcycle sector with Vespa, Piaggio, Aprilia, Moto Guzzi, Gilera and Derby. It also produces light commercial vehicles such as the Ape and Porter and, since 2015, has launched the Piaggio Fast Forward Robotics division, based in Boston, aimed at future mobility, including the Gita Land drone equipped with follow me technology. Emcee has expanded its investments in areas such as shipbuilding, acquiring Rodriquez Cantieri Navali of Messina and Intermarine of Sarzana, now world leaders in the production of minesweepers and minesweepers, and the ambitious Mollas Golf Resort project in Sardinia. With are in real estate and tourism sector. ,
In 2008, Colaninno dedicated himself to being in charge of the Italian airline Ca. save alitalia, In association with Emcee, he became one of the founding partners of the new company, which acquired Alitalia and Aeron. However, even in this case, the subsequent change of ownership does not allow for Alitalia to implement its recovery plan, adding another complicated chapter to the flag carrier’s history.
In addition to his role as President and Member of the Board of Directors of Alitalia, Colaninno has held positions in financial institutions such as Mediobanca and Capital.
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