Italy's RCS reaches settlement with Blackstone over property dispute (updated)

Rizzoli Corriere Della Sera Mediagroup SpA

15/07/2022 14:15

(Recasts with companies' statement, adds details and quotes)
    MILAN, July 15 (Reuters) - RCS MediaGroup  RCSM.MI  and
Blackstone  BX.N  said on Friday they had reached an agreement
to settle their legal row over the disputed sale of the Italian
publishing company's headquarters to the U.S. fund in 2013.
    Under the settlement, both sides will renounce all legal
action and RCS will pay 10 million euros ($10.06 million) to
Blackstone, to contribute to the legal fees faced by the fund,
the two companies said in a joint statement. 
    RCS, publisher of Italian daily Corriere della Sera, will
also buy back a portion of the office building in Milan - about
a third of the whole asset and which was the former headquarters
of the newspaper - for 59.9 million euros, twice the amount at
which it had sold the space in 2013.  
    RCS shares surged on news that a settlement had been reached
and were up 17% at 1232 GMT.
    RCS had launched arbitration proceedings in 2018 to try to
nullify the 2013 sale of its historic headquarters in Milan to
Blackstone, saying the price had been too low at a time when RCS
faced financial difficulties.
    The arbitration tribunal ruled in favour of the investment
fund and RCS lost an appeal against that ruling in a Milan
court. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2XV2F8
    In Friday's statement, RCS acknowledged "there was no
misconduct or bad faith in relation to the 2013 transaction" and
apologised for any wrongdoing, regretting any inconvenience
caused to the U.S. fund.
    In a lawsuit filed in New York against RCS and its chairman
Urbano Cairo, Blackstone had demanded up to $600 million in
damages, claiming RCS improperly claimed ownership of the
properties and "intentionally interfered" with the subsequent
sale of the assets to Allianz, a deal which later fell through.
    The U.S. lawsuit had been suspended until the Italian court
proceedings were concluded. 
    "RCS has now publicly acknowledged the decisions (by
arbitrators and courts), provided financial compensation and
apologised. We consider the matter now closed," a spokesperson
from Blackstone said.

 ($1 = 0.9937 euros)

 (Reporting by Claudia Cristoferi, editing by Gianluca Semeraro,
Giulia Segreti and Susan Fenton)
 ((gianluca.semeraro@tr.com; +39 06 80 307 741;))