Italy's Brembo starts sale of 5.6% Pirelli stake (updated)

Brembo NV

01/10/2024 17:34

(Adds details, context)
       MILAN, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Premium brakemaker Brembo
 BRBI.MI  said on Tuesday it was starting a process to sell its
entire stake in tyre maker Pirelli  PIRC.MI , worth around 300
million euros ($331.8 million), dampening speculation about a
merger between the two Italian groups.
    Brembo currently owns some 5.6% of Pirelli. It built its
stake from 2020 to reach a 6% level at one point and also
entered a shareholder agreement in 2023 with Camfin, the vehicle
of Italian businessman Marco Tronchetti Provera, Pirelli's
second largest investor.
    Brembo's purchases had fed speculation about an alternative
Italian shareholders' front for Pirelli, especially after the
Rome government intervened last year to curb the grip on the
company by its largest shareholder, Chinese state-owned
conglomerate Sinochem Group  600500.SS .        
    The sale will be performed through a so-called 'accelerated
book building' (ABB) process, which will start "immediately",
the Italian company said in a statement.    
    BNP Paribas has been appointed as sole global coordinator
for the placement deal.
    An ABB is a form of offering where banks act as bookrunners
and in which shares are offered during a short time window,
generally lasting between 24 hours to 48 hours.
    Marco Tronchetti Provera, who has led Pirelli since 1992, is
now the executive vice chairman.
($1 = 0.9042 euros)

 (Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari; editing by Valentina Za/Keith
Weir)
 ((giulio.piovaccari@thomsonreuters.com))