Word: benedetti
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Belgians were outraged when Italy's Carlo De Benedetti, 53, the aggressive chairman of Olivetti, announced plans last January to take control of Societe Generale de Belgique, their country's largest and most diversified company. Last week, with the help of Compagnie Financiere de Suez, a French merchant bank, they managed to stop him -- at least for the moment...
...Benedetti, who is chairman of Italy's Olivetti and holds stakes in companies ranging from the Yves Saint Laurent fashion house to the Buitoni Perugina food giant, managed to grab a major interest in La Generale -- also known as Belgium Inc. -- while no one was looking. His announcement last week that he had acquired an 18.6% share (market value: more than $300 million) largely through his Paris-based holding company, Cerus, prompted hurrahs in Italy's financial community. "It was a brilliant operation, a theatrical coup," said Fiat Chairman Giovanni Agnelli, and Italian newspapers bannered triumphant headlines like DE BENEDETTI...
Perhaps too late, La Generale is putting up a defense. The company issued $1.5 billion in new stock, aiming to dilute the value of De Benedetti's shares. A Brussels commercial court ruled the stock issue invalid, but the Belgian banking commission gave approval for the defense tactic, thus setting the stage for a legal and regulatory battle. Even Belgium's Finance Minister, Mark Eyskens, intervened. "We are not against Europeanization," he reportedly said. "You can do it, but you can't do it sneakily, breaking in like a thief in the night." In a hurriedly called meeting, Eyskens persuaded...
...fall of La Generale's share price in the stock-market plunge made it a perfect target. Yet De Benedetti, an engineer by training who turned a moribund Olivetti into a global power in office computers, is unlikely to take apart La Generale as a ruthless raider might do. Instead, he aims to expand the company into a Continental conglomerate in preparation for the era beyond 1992, when the trade barriers between the twelve European Community countries are scheduled to be eliminated. That step will create a wide-open marketplace of some 320 million consumers, a powerful launching...
Defying all expectations, health costs continue to soar. -- The Pentagon' s new buyer. -- De Benedetti raids Belgium...