Leonardo, Cdp and Elite today signed a memorandum of understanding dedicated to the growth of companies that are part of Leonardo's supply chain. The agreement – related to partnership announced by Elite and Leonardo last February and included in Leonardo's LEAP2020 program – has as its objective the financial support of CDP for the growth of Leonardo's supply chain.
The defense group aims to improve the sustainability of its business and its performance, while for Cassa Depositi e Prestiti the agreement represents a step consistent with the objective set by the Business Plan to support 60 Italian companies.
Today the first group of 22 companies admitted to Elite (and part of Leonardo's supply chain) was announced through the Elite Leonardo Lounge, a model developed in co-design to meet the specific needs of these companies. The agreement with ELITE allows Leonardo's supply chain suppliers who decide to join the program to structure their growth and expansion plans which require high transversal skills, especially in terms of international development and internal organizational structure.
This first group of suppliers in Leonardo's supply chain, which is starting its journey today, comes from 11 Italian regions and operates in the Aerospace and Defense industry. The companies have an aggregate turnover of 360 million Euros and employ over 2.400 people.
"We are very satisfied with the agreement with Cdp and Elite - commented Alessandro Profumo, Leonardo's CEO - because it represents a further step forward in the path we have undertaken, in line with our Business Plan and with the achievement of the Development Goals Sustainable development of the UN 2030 Agenda, to build a solid and reliable supply chain in the Aerospace, Defense and Security (AD&S) sector in Italy. We firmly believe in the value of this initiative and we are convinced that the collaboration signed with CDP and ELITE can improve the development of the entrepreneurial fabric, a founding element of the national economic and industrial system".
According to Fabrizio Palermo, CEO of Cassa depositi e prestiti, “defense and aerospace represent a significant part of the country's industrial and technological heritage, with important repercussions on our economy also in terms of related industries. By adopting a system approach, we have launched a structured collaboration to concretely contribute to sustainable growth, the creation of new technological skills and the internationalization of Italian companies operating in these sectors. Thanks to an integrated and widespread offer of financial products, Cassa depositi e prestiti is able to offer concrete support to companies, including medium and small ones, which are part of Leonardo's manufacturing chain, helping to support their competitiveness even beyond national boundaries".
