Berlusconi’s children lock down Fininvest, a dividend of 100 million to the family

MILAN. The Berlusconis go back to business and, before opening the reorganization site, lock down Fininvest under the sign of continuity. The ritual is the same as always. The door of the building of the Milan office in via Paleocapa that opens and closes slowly, the ushers in livery that look very 80s, the very dark windows of the cars that enter and exit, the flashing light of Fedele Confalonieri’s car. “Why are you here?” he asks reporters. He answers himself: «Oh yes, the assembly…».

And what a meeting: the first of Fininvest after Silvio Berlusconi and without waiting for the publication of his will. The summit meeting of the empire made up of TV, books, finance, theatre, football, jet aircraft, investments and real estate, opens «with a moved memory of the founder» whose «entrepreneurial vision, innovative nature and great human qualities», reads a note from the safe.

No more Cavaliere, but it is as if there were. If the line is that of continuity, time will tell whether it will be accompanied by harmony. To facilitate there are the accounts, down because without the extraordinary items of a year ago, but back to pre-covid levels: 200.2 million euros in profits, a generous dividend of 100 million. Of these, awaiting the will and therefore the succession, approximately 62.46 million will end up in the four holding companies that were directly owned by the Patriarch and now looked after by the trusted accountant Giuseppe Spinelli. More or less 7.81 million each will go to the finance companies of Marina (Holding Italiana Quarta) and Pier Silvio (Quinta). Another 21.85 million will be divided equally between Veronica Lario’s three children, namely Barbara, Eleonora and Luigi who “cohabit” in the Fourteenth.

The compactness, however, can be seen in the unanimity achieved in all the votes and is reflected in the new board which is renewed with all the eight members who were already there: not even the only box left empty, that of Niccolò Ghedini, is reassigned , the super lawyer of the thousand trials who disappeared in August a year ago. So Marina Berlusconi is confirmed as president, with her brothers Pier Silvio, Barbara and Luigi on the board of directors, but not Eleonora, who has always wanted to keep aloof from family affairs. We also find the “technicians”, starting with CEO Danilo Pellegrino, then the former CEO of Mondadori Ernesto Mauri, the tax expert Salvatore Sciascia, the Arcore football manager, Adriano Galliani. The family reunion is only half done: the capital with the right to vote is present in full, but those who participate mostly connect by videoconference and someone limits themselves to entrusting proxies. In the morning, the youngest son, Luigi, is seen entering and leaving the premises. At four in the afternoon, directly from Segrate, from “his of hers” Mondadori, Marina Berlusconi arrives. Big blue car, very black windows, no concessions to journalists. An hour later the meeting begins, in her presence are she and CEO Pellegrino. The business restarts from the accounts of the holding company with a net worth of 4.5 billion. And the accounts are less glittering than a year ago when the favorable markets and the capital gain from the sale of Towertel by the Mediaset investee (40%) in the towers, Ei Towers, had given gas, with the coupon reaching 150 million. But even these, they underline from via Paleocapa, “demonstrate the solid stability of the companies of the group and stand at pre-pandemic levels”.

Revenues hold at 3,822.5 million euros (+0.12% compared to a year ago), the gross operating margin is 860.1 million euros (-6.67%), the net profit is to 200.2 million, down 44.4%. Investments amount to 563.2 million, net debts are 1.2 billion. It is recalled how Mfe-MediaforEurope (50%), Mediaset in European format, has given “further impetus to its international growth”. While the Mondadori Group (53%), the realm of Marina, “has continued in its path of focusing on books with targeted operations”, the last of which is the acquisition of 51% of the comics stores of Star Shop Distribuzione. Not only that, during the day he also raised his growth estimates thanks to the operating performance and the sale of the newspaper. A mention also goes to Banca Mediolanum (of which Fininvest has 30%) and its record operating margin “of 680 million”.

The Berlusconis go back to business. Ahead of them are the opening of the will, in the first days of July, then the reorganization of the chain of control of Fininvest itself, given that the four finance companies of the knight will be divided among the heirs. There will be new boxes, a syndicate agreement between the brothers, a possible trust to balance their influence, a new statute for Fininvest itself. But the first test of compactness, yesterday, can be considered passed.