It's too early to tell if Vivendi's move, which is now 20% Mediaset, either a real climbing or just war preparing peace between two corsairs like Vincent Bolloré e Silvio Berlusconi.
The Stock Exchange is in fibrillation and soon all colors will be seen, but certainly Italy has already become more French. Obviously the siege of Mediaset is holding court and is at the center of all fantasies, but two days ago Unicredit has sold Pioneer to the French Amundi and it is impressive to see that in the heart of Italian finance, in Unicredit with Jean Pierre Mustier and Generali with Philippe Donnet, to lead the dances two transalpine top managers. Not to say to Telecom, where the first shareholder is Vivendi and does not move leaf without Bolloré not wanting, and without forgetting Mediobanca where once again Bolloré, a longtime raider, does not fail to make his weight felt.
But the best (so to speak) is yet to come. Vivendi's assault on Mediaset attracts all the limelight but perhaps it would be appropriate to start asking another question and turn our gaze to another reality which for Italy and its Italian economy is much more important than Mediaset and that is precisely on Unicredit. Who will be the new masters of Unicredit after the monstrous increase of 13 billion illustrated yesterday at the City by Jean Pierre Mustier? It is useless to fantasize about the perhaps improbable projects of the Société Générale. What is certain is that in Unicredit to lay down the law they will no longer be the Foundations, who do not have the means to support the capital increase and will end up being diluted in the new shareholder base, which will become more contestable and arguably more international than today.
An era has ended and we will soon realize it. But it is of little use to cry over the lost Italianness. It's capitalism, honey. And if Italian capitalism, with rare exceptions, does not have the strength or the will to face the great challenges and to bet on the future, it is no wonder that many crown jewels end up in foreign hands. Already the privatizations were the showcase of lost opportunities But, fortunately, in economics as in finance what matters most is not the color of the flag but the efficiency and ability to create value. An Italian company in the hands of a foreigner who guarantees its development is better than a company in Italian hands that closes. Let us always remember the case of the Nuovo Pignone which has found a new life since ENI sold it to General Electric.
However not everything can be sold without paying a price and without taking apart a piece of Italy. The passport of companies is not decisive and not everything is strategic. When Italians buy a company abroad it is celebrated as a success and it is not clear why we have to tear our clothes apart whenever foreigners do the same for us, if they ensure the defense of jobs and promise a future for the company.
But there is a but. If we don't want to reduce ourselves to a colony, everything can be sold and liberalized except truly strategic assets, that is, those that make the GDP grow and that cannot be replicated and for which it is worth doing a little economic patriotism. But what are the truly strategic assets in Italy today? The list of strategic assets is not immutable and changes over time under the pressure of technology and the market. Of course it is important but Mediaset is not strategic, which is a heritage of the country and of the Berlusconi family, but it is not the only Italian television group.
The discourse on Unicredit is quite the opposite, which is not the only bank in our country but which, together with Intesa Sanpaolo and Generali, represents the heart of Italian finance which collects and safeguards national savings and supports the country's economy. The same is true for large infrastructure networks (telecommunications, energy, transport, airports, highways, water) and for the defense industry. Big banks and savings, networks and defense: these are strategic assets whose Italian spirit must be actively defended in compliance with the rules of Europe and the market. On the rest, the best man wins.
