It turns on the internal clash at Pirelli after the interruption of negotiations to try to find a solution to the obstacles that the group could encounter in the USA. On the one hand Sinochem, the company's first shareholder with a 37% stake which on paper controls the Bicocca group through Marco Polo International Italy. On the other hand, the same company, its second largest shareholder (26,4%) Camfin and the executive vice president of the group Marco Tronchetti Provera. The crux of the matter: the lack of agreement on the acquisition of a stake in Sinochem following the US ban on the sale of vehicles connected to software linked to China and Russia, which weighs like a millstone, considering that the United States represents the 40% of the high-value market.
Sinochem's criticisms
Last Wednesday, Pirelli announced that Sinochem had rejected a proposal to resolve the issue, while Marco Tronchetti Provera's Camfin had said it was ready to review the syndicate agreement with Beijing.
Two days later the Chinese responded, saying that "Pirelli's proposal was rejected by us but why potentially damaging for Pirelli and, overall, seriously unfair and unbalanced against all Pirelli shareholders (including Mpi) with the exception of Camfin”, accuses Sinochem. Words that came the day after the board of directors on quarterly results, at the end of which the Bicocca group had communicated that the negotiations with Sinochem had concluded without success.
Then the accusation directed at Camfin, the financial company of Marco Tronchetti Provera: "We firmly reject the unfounded accusations" and "we express concern about the real aims pursued by Camfin and about potential conflicts of interest of individuals who hold a dual key role in both Pirelli and Camfin companies”.
Pirelli's reply
Within a few hours it also arrived the counter-reply from Pirelli management, according to which “the proposals presented to Sinochem in order to overcome the regulatory issues in the United States were exclusively and obviously – unlike what was stated – in the interest of the company and respectful of that of all shareholders."
“The alleged support for Pirelli mentioned by Marco Polo did not materialize in no alternative proposal presented to management, but in a proposal sent exclusively to the Golden Power which, despite Pirelli having requested it from Marco Polo, the latter decided not to share”, adds the Bicocca group, underlining that “the excellent results achieved by Pirelli in recent years, thanks to the strategies implemented by its management, have allowed it to create value for the benefit of all shareholders, including Sinochem itself”. Pirelli “remains open to exploring solutions that can allow it to fully comply with the rules of the American market as well and will continue to do everything in its power to protect the development of the company in a strategic market such as that of the United States", concludes the note.