MILAN (Reuters) -Italy’s government and Pirelli shareholders are on the right track to find a solution to issues created by having China’s Sinochem as the tyremaker’s largest shareholder, Industry Minister Adolfo Urso said on Friday as he visited a company facility in Milan.
Pirelli’s Italian investor Camfin has complained that Sinochem’s presence is hindering its expansion plans in the United States, as Washington tightens restrictions on Chinese technology in the automotive sector.
The key issue relates to Pirelli’s so-called Cyber Tyres, which are fitted with a technology to collect data during motion and transfer the information in real time to the vehicle.
GOVERNMENT WILL PLAY ITS PART IN FINDING SOLUTION
“We know we are on the right track, and everyone is aware that we need to find the best solution to ensure the development of this cutting-edge technology worldwide and, therefore, of this company,” Urso said at the end of his visit.
“I think we will be in a position, (shareholders) will be in a position, to achieve this goal because the government will obviously play its part to the full,” Urso said.
He was accompanied on the visit by Marco Tronchetti Provera, the Italian businessman who has led Pirelli since 1992 and is now its executive vice-chairman, and by CEO Andrea Casaluci.
Asked whether it was realistic to expect an accord for Pirelli’s governance by the spring of next year, when the company is due to renew its board, Urso said he was confident “a desirable solution will arrive in time for the company to finally be able to operate fully in the most significant and promising markets, starting with the American one”.
“It’s shareholders who will find the right solution. We have created the conditions for this to happen,” he added.
After the government last month ruled Sinochem was not breaching rules meant to protect Pirelli’s autonomy, the Chinese state-backed group opened up to a possible sale of its Pirelli stake, or part of it, if an offer came with a premium, sources have told Reuters.
(Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari; Writing by Sara Rossi and Giulio Piovaccari; Editing by Alvise Armellini and David Holmes)
