Word: montedison
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Gardini's financial success during the 1980s mirrored that of Italy's. His roll-the-dice executive style suited the spirit of his times: in 1987 Gardini won control, after a nearly $2 billion buyout, of Montedison, a chemical and pharmaceutical giant, transforming a prosperous family concern into Italy's second largest private company after Fiat...
From there Gardini masterminded Ferruzzi-Montedison's 1989 joint venture with ENI, which made him a global giant -- and began his downfall. From the start, there were rumors that kickbacks had been paid to political parties in return for approving the deal. Gardini soon found himself in conflict with Cagliari, ENI's ambitious chief. Each man controlled 40% of Enimont, but the Ferruzzi boss tried to tip the balance by having friends purchase a majority of the outstanding 20% stock. In the end Cagliari prevailed, and in November 1990 ENI bought out Gardini's stake at an apparently politically sanctioned...
...might have walked away a rich if restless man, since investigators could not untangle his schemes without some inside help. But they found their songbird last month, when Gardini's successor at Montedison was arrested and extradited from Switzerland. Giuseppe Garofano was brought back to Milan and immediately began giving investigators a detailed rundown of the company's double bookkeeping and multimillion-dollar payoffs to politicians. He gave them enough to issue warrants for the arrest of five top Ferruzzi executives, including Gardini...