Simplification of shareholding and governance. This is the rearrangement he is aiming for de Cecco, the pasta giant from Abruzzo – the third group in the world after Barilla and the Spanish Ebro Foods – which currently sees its capital divided between 21 heirs.
A few days ago Philip Antonio DeCecco, president of the company, bought 8,59% from his brother Giuseppe Adolfo, thus rising to 23,59%, a share that makes him the largest single shareholder.
Then there are the family branches of Saturnino DeCecco (at 23,41%) and of Joseph Aristide (12,04%), followed in turn by the groups of Joseph Alfred (10,5%) and di Maria DeCecco (9,92%). And still eight other members with shares between 4 and 5%.
“By now with so many heirs we are in fact a public company – said al Corriere della Sera the president – We are training for the quotation on the Stock Exchange”.
Meanwhile, the 2019 accounts will be approved in March, closed with record results: revenues up by 6,56%, to 480 million euros, and margins up from 50 to 54 million. Again in March, the assembly will also be called to renew the board.
the IPO at Piazza Affari it will still take some time, but the project is clear. First, De Cecco has to find a new general manager, then we will move on to the choice of placing banks. It is also possible that the family selects a new minority shareholder to further strengthen before opening the capital to the market. Already in the autumn there had been advanced contacts with a large international fund, which however had then asked for a majority stake and was therefore rejected by the family, determined to maintain control of the company.
In short, the quotation is not yet around the corner, but it is nonetheless seen by the president as the only possible instrument for further growth, increasing investments and conquering market shares abroad. Starting with the United States, where Filippo Antonio De Cecco dreams of opening a factory.
