The Cassa di Risparmio di Torino foundation is in full shopping fever. In her wallet she just found around 140 million euros for the 1,8% sale of the capital of Banco Bpm and started the purchase. The latest grab concerns a share of the Bank of Fucino, says Mf, the Roman institute founded in 1923 by Giovanni Torlonia and today led by Francesco Maiolini. The investment of the third largest Italian foundation in terms of assets (over 3 billion euros), chaired by Fabrizio Palenzona, is worth around 2 million euros compared to a 0,7% stake in the Roman bank.
Banca del Fucino: the Roman financial salon
Banca del Fucino, which today is part of the group Igea Bank, is considered the financial salon of Central Italy. Fondazione Crt is the latest addition to its capital, after having carried out several capital increases in recent months to strengthen its assets by bringing on board new members: Fondazione Nazionale delle Communication, Farmitalia Chemical Pharmaceutical Industry, Home Baiocco and by councilor Fabio Drive away
At the end of 2023 the bank had launched another capital increase to which the Foundation Enpam, a social security and assistance body for doctors and dentists (the largest Italian private fund), had participated with 23,8 million, guaranteeing a participation of 8,17%. In 2022, however, there were family entries Angelini, of Santo Versace, of Txt e-Solutions and also of Sri Group, the Italian-British financial advisory company led by Giulio Gallazzi (9,9% of the capital) which in October last year also entered the capital of Mediobanca.
The shopping list: starting from Generali
The Fucino bank is only the latest purchase, after the sale of the stake in Bpm, on a list that is starting to become long. At the end of February, the CRT Foundation "consolidated" its "historic long-term participation in Generali, so as to increase the flow of dividends, which together with UniCredit and Mundys constitute the largest part of the resources we make available to the territory", as Palenzona said in an interview with Il Sole 24 Ore, underlining that the share in insurance company remains "on the 2% threshold" from the previous 1,6%. In the two-year assembly the organization sided with the list presented by Caltagirone. The market looks to spring 2025, when he comes the Leone board has been renewed.
The share in the Asti savings bank
Then came the acquisition of a share in the Asti savings bank and another in the "experimental" wine of Monferrato. The Cassa di Risparmio has been present in Asti since 1842 and Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Torino has approved the purchase of shares, traded on the multilateral system managed by Vorvel Sim, for an equivalent value of 40 million euro, equal to less than 10% of the Piedmontese credit institution and will probably also have a place on the board of directors.
Crt Asti, chaired by Giorgio Galvagno and led by CEO Carlo Demartini, is 31,80% controlled by Fondazione Cassa Risparmio di Asti, 12% by Fondazione di Biella. Both presidents of the two bodies (Mario Sacco and Michele Colombo respectively) sit with Palenzona in the Council of Foundations of the North-West. Banca d'Asti has just closed its 2023 financial statements with a group fiduciary mass of 17,9 billion, a collection of 7,5 billion, a net profit of 85 million euros with a dividend of 0,30 euros per share ( up by 50%).
The passion for wine, but experimental
To acquire Enosis, a wine research center in Fubine (Alessandria) led by the oenologist-scientist Donato Lonati, the Turin foundation has approved a 20 million investment. Cascina Meraviglia Enosis has a long history that has its roots in the seventeenth century, when it belonged to the Cacherano family of Bricherasio, Piedmontese nobles and viceroys of the Savoy and among the founders of Fiat in 1899 together with Giovanni Agnelli. Since 2005, the ancient Monferrato farmhouse has been transformed into Enosis, 2.500 square meters, four floors and five hectares of land where laboratories, tasting rooms, experimental cellars, conference rooms, classrooms and of course vineyards are kept.
Donato Lonati, the wine scientist, who in an interview defined himself as "anarchist like the grignolino", considered "a wine hero" in Georgia, is the founder and guru of Enosis, an estate where the wine of the future. In Monferrato Lanati has cultivated 37 experimental vineyards, to carry out research on grapes, fermentation, refinement and quality control. Among the innovations: Genesis, a hi-tech micro winemaker that can contain up to 200 kilos of grapes and produce 100 liters of wine; the «Maraviglia glass» whose shape allows perfect decantation. Enosis of Fubine is today a company worth around 3 million euros in revenues and generates profits of around 100 thousand euros. After having supported the rebirth of the Officine Grandi Riparazioni in Turin as a technology and innovation hub, 100 million in investments, the Crt Foundation is now focusing on the development of technologies also in the province, linked to the local supply chains, as already mentioned in the new statute of the non-profit organization.
