Italy

Italian spirits group Davide Campari led by its new Chief Executive Simon Hunt, said on Thursday it needed to take some "tough decisions, such as organizational restructuring" to ensure the group's return to financial health, Reuters reported. Italian daily MF reported on Thursday that the group was working to cut its workforce by 10%, meaning around 500 people. Asked for a comment, Campari said in an emailed statement that it needed a more efficient resource allocation, as changes in top-line performance and existing infrastructure investments had impacted profitability.

Telecom Italia SpA has hired UniCredit SpA to help evaluate its options as suitors circle the former Italian phone monopoly, Bloomberg News reported. Advisers at Italy’s second-largest bank will work with Telecom Italia to review scenarios that could increase its value in an approach. Billionaire Xavier Niel and buyout firm CVC Capital Partners Plc are separately exploring deals for Telecom Italia that could pave the way for its eventual combination with the local unit of Niel’s Iliad SA, Bloomberg reported last week.

The head of Italy's fashion chamber said he has appealed to its government to protect the country's second-largest industry from possible tariffs from the Trump administration, the Associated Press reported. “We hope they don’t arrive,’’ Italian National Fashion Chamber President Carlo Capasa said Wednesday during the presentation of the calendar for the next Milan Fashion Week later this month.

Italy will scale back plans to increase taxes on cryptocurrency capital gains, ruling politicians said on Tuesday, following criticism from the affected industry and rows within the party of the economy minister, Reuters reported. "The tax increase will be significantly reduced during the parliamentary work," lawmaker Giulio Centemero and Treasury Junior Minister Federico Freni, both from the co-ruling League party, said in a statement.

Italy's Industry Minister Adolfo Urso announced a deal on Tuesday to avert 249 layoffs at suppliers to Stellantis, saying he hoped the breakthrough would help repair strained relations with the carmaker, Reuters reported. Stellantis and Italy's government have been at loggerheads for months, with politicians in Rome accusing Fiat's parent company and its CEO Carlos Tavares of neglecting historic Italian manufacturing sites and moving production abroad.

Banks have offloaded their debt exposure to Italian toymaker Giochi Preziosi SpA to alternative asset managers after getting engulfed in restructuring talks, Bloomberg News reported. Banco BPM SpA and UniCredit SpA have sold their Giochi Preziosi debt to DeA Capital, while Intesa Sanpaolo SpA offloaded its exposure to Sagitta SGR SpA, an Arrow Global-backed firm advised by Europa Investimenti. Giochi Preziosi has been in talks with lenders for months, after the majority of its roughly €250 million ($265 million) in debt came due earlier this year.

Recaro has been rescued from bankruptcy. The financial lifeboat comes courtesy of Proma Group, an Italian automotive parts supplier, which yesterday announced that it had signed an investment agreement to take over operations for the world's oldest seat maker, Car and Driver reported. Proma said in a press release that its investment will allow Recaro Automotive, which is based in Germany, to continue operations amidst a transitional phase. That will lead to a European relaunch in January, when OEM production will move to Italy.