Finanziaria d'investimento Fininvest S.p.A., also known as Fininvest, is an Italian holding company controlled by the Berlusconi family and managed by Silvio Berlusconi's eldest daughter Marina Berlusconi.

Finanziaria d'investimento Fininvest S.p.A.
Fininvest
Company typeSocietà per azioni
IndustryFinancial services
Founded21 March 1975; 49 years ago (1975-03-21)
FounderSilvio Berlusconi
Headquarters
  • Rome, Italy (legal)
  • Milan, Italy (de facto)
Key people
ServicesHolding company
Revenue3,822.5 Euro (2022) Edit this on Wikidata
Decrease004 million(2016 company)
Decrease (€120 million)(2016 group)
Total assets
Decrease02.209 billion(2016 company)
Decrease €10.079 billion(2016 group)
Total equity
Decrease01.891 billion(2016 company)
Decrease02.344 billion(2016 group)
OwnerBerlusconi family
Number of employees
Increase 17,415 (2016 Group)
Subsidiaries
Websitewww.fininvest.it
Footnotes / references
source;[3][4][5] Mediaset was consolidated as Fininvest had the controlling stake in the number of directors in the board

Structure

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The Fininvest group is composed of a number of companies, such as Mondadori (one of Italy's leading publishing companies), Teatro Manzoni (a theatre in Milan), Alba Servizi Aerotrasporti (a private jet company) and Fininvest Gestione Servizi.

Fininvest is the largest shareholder of MFE - MediaForEurope, which is currently the biggest private entertainment competitor in Italy, known for domestic operations in Italy through Mediaset (including Canale 5, Italia 1, Rete 4, among others), Spanish operations through Mediaset España, the film production company Medusa Film, and many other companies related to TV broadcasting. The deal to sell Mediaset Premium collapsed in 2016.

Fininvest's voting rights on Mediolanum was capped at 9.9999% by Italian Insurance Supervisory Authority despite owning about 36% share capital of the financial conglomerate;[6] the company reverse merger with subsidiary Banca Mediolanum in 2015. Fininvest had a shareholders' pact with Ennio Doris (the pact only bind to 25.5% share each, excess amount of share was not bind),[7] the largest shareholder of Banca Mediolanum, making the pact had an absolute majority in the bank for 51% share capital.

On 5 August 2016, Fininvest signed a preliminary agreement to sell 99.93% stake of AC Milan to a Chinese private equity fund Sino-Europe Sports.[8] The deal was completed on 13 April 2017.

On 15 February 2017, Fininvest announced that they bought an additional 2.9% shares of Mondadori (increased to 53.299%)[9] It was followed by and additional 1.27% shares of Mediaset on 12 May.[1] Fininvest had also purchased more shares in December 2016,[10] in response to hostile takeover by Vivendi.

Other investments

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Fininvest owned 0.99% stake in Mediobanca, and was part of the shareholders' pact that owned about 31% stake in the bank in total.[11]

Controversies

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The Berlusconi family does not control the company directly. Instead, its shares are owned by 38 separate companies, all named 'Holding Italiana' followed by a number (1-38), most of which are in turn controlled by Berlusconi. These 'Holding Italiane' have repeatedly come under investigation by the police for various financial and accounting irregularities, slush funds and money-laundering. All of them were created at the end of the 1970s by covert associates of Berlusconi's and received significant investments (several hundreds of millions of euros at today's value) from still unknown sources. Some of their liquidity was even deposited in cash. Much of the documentation of that time relative to the early financial and banking operations of these companies has been lost, in one case in a fire.

A report on those matters was commissioned by the general Dipartimento Investigativo Anti-Mafia (Bureau of Anti-Mafia Investigation) of Palermo in the 1990s from a finance expert working at the Bank of Italy, Francesco Giuffrida, to supplement the evidence in a tentative case against Berlusconi and associates for their alleged involvement with the Sicilian Mafia. In 1998, the case was temporarily shelved because of a lack of sufficient evidence to go to trial.

References

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  1. ^ a b "Fininvest sale al 41,09% dei diritti di voto Mediaset" (PDF) (in Italian). Fininvest. 12 May 2017. Retrieved 20 May 2017.
  2. ^ "Company structure - Fininvest". www.fininvest.it.
  3. ^ "Annual Report 2016". Fininvest. 2017 [circa]. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
  4. ^ Fininvest 2016 bilancio consolidato (in Italian). Rome: Italian C.C.I.A.A. 2017.
  5. ^ Fininvest 2016 bilancio (in Italian). Rome: Italian C.C.I.A.A. 2017.
  6. ^ "COMUNICATO STAMPA CONGIUNTO" (PDF) (in Italian). Fin.Prog.Italia S.A.p.A. di Ennio Doris & C. / Fininvest. 2 April 2016. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  7. ^ "Estratto di patti parasociali ai sensi dell'art. 122 del d.lgs. 24.2.1998, n. 58 e dell'art. 129 Regolamento Consob del 14 maggio 1999, n. 11971" (PDF) (in Italian). Banca Mediolanum. 16 September 2016. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  8. ^ "Comunicato Stampa – Milan: Fininvest firma preliminare di vendita con cordata cinese" [Press Release – Milan: Fininvest signs preliminary selling agreement with Chinese group of investors] (PDF) (in Italian). Fininvest. 5 August 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  9. ^ "Fininvest sale al 53,3% del capitale Mondadori" (PDF). Fininvest. 15 February 2017. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  10. ^ "Mediaset: Fininvest sale a quasi il 40% dei diritti di voto" (PDF) (in Italian). Fininvest. 13 December 2016. Retrieved 24 December 2016.
  11. ^ "Accordo per la partecipazione al capitale di Mediobanca" (in Italian). Mediobanca. 5 July 2016. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
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