Italy

Linklaters has filed negligence claims against Italian law firm Gianni Origoni Grippo & Partners relating to advice given by the magic circle firm to Credit Suisse on a deal with Italian food company Parmalat nearly 10 years ago, LegalWeek.com reported. The claims, which were filed in the Admiralty and Commercial division of the High Court earlier this month (10 March), see Linklaters suing the Italian independent law firm as well as launching five claims against individuals.

Italian directory company Seat Pagine Gialle SpA bonds dropped Wednesday after the company published its full-year results and announced it intends to hire advisers for a process of "stabilization of its financial structure," Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. Seat Pagine Gialle posted a EUR667.4 million net loss in 2010 compared with a EUR38 million net loss a year earlier. The company made a goodwill writedown of EUR673.8 million following an impairment test. The Italian yellow pages publisher is shifting its focus to the online business from the declining print directories market.

One of Italy's biggest unions yesterday announced a strike next month to protest against an agreement reached between Fiat SpA and rival unions to build Alfa Romeo and Jeep vehicles at a key plant, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. The metalworkers' union, Fiom, took part in the talks last week but refused to sign the agreement on the terms of the future labor contract for the plant because it rejected some of these terms demanded by Fiat.

An Italian court sentenced Parmalat SpA founder Calisto Tanzi to 18 years in prison for his role in the 2003 collapse of the Italian dairy firm, wrapping up a seven-year investigation and trial into one of Europe's biggest corporate bankruptcies, The Wall Street Journal reported. Parmalat filed for bankruptcy in December 2003 after information emerged that a decade-long fraud had left the maker of long-life milk, yogurts and juice saddled with €14 billion ($18.57 billion) in debt. The savings of thousands of bondholders around the world were wiped out.

Italy’s debt costs more to insure against default than that of the Philippines or Indonesia, as Europe’s debt woes overshadow a credit rating six levels higher than either of the emerging-market nation, Bloomberg reported. Credit-default swaps on Italy, the only borrower among Europe’s so-called peripheral nations not to suffer a cut in its credit rating since last year, trade at 166.5 basis points. That’s more than the 127 basis points for Indonesia, or the 126 basis points for the Philippines.

An Italian labor union said it may appeal a Rome court ruling to declare ferry operator Tirrenia di Navigazione SpA insolvent and will fight against the state-owned company’s breakup, Bloomberg Businessweek reported. “We fear that after the insolvency, Tirrenia will be broken up into many companies, hurting its service and workforce,” Giuseppe Caronia, general secretary of the Uil Trasporti union, said. “We have nothing against the company’s sale in one piece to investors willing to keep the jobs and a state stake.” Uil Trasporti has called a strike on Aug.

Borletti Group's new offer to acquire insolvent German retailer Karstadt includes a €100 million investment and wouldn't separate the department chain into several units, as proposed by investor Nicholas Berggruen in June, the Italian group's head, Maurizio Borletti, said Wednesday, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. Berggruen won a bid to acquire Karstadt in June, but the deal is contingent on reaching agreements on rental and other conditions with Karstadt's creditors. The final agreement has been held up as Berggruen and creditors discuss formal details ahead of an Aug.

The two founders of Italy's debt-laden Mariella Burani Fashion Group have been arrested as part of an inquiry into the bankruptcy of the luxury goods maker, a judicial source said on Wednesday. Former Chairman Walter Burani was put under house arrest by Milan judges investigating the bankruptcy of Mariella Burani Family Holding and Mariella Burani Fashion Group, the source said. His son Giovanni Burani was being held in jail awaiting questioning, the source said. Mariella Burani Fashion Group (was not immediately available for comment.

Italy’s Senate is on Thursday expected to approve the centre-right government’s controversial €25bn austerity package, with Silvio Berlusconi resorting to a vote of confidence to ram through his cuts in the face of considerable dissent from within his own coalition, the Financial Times reported. The unpopular package is then expected to be taken to the lower house for final approval, again in a vote of confidence, by the end of the month.

The deadline for bids for Italian fashion house Gianfranco Ferre, one of Milan's top designer names, was extended to Aug. 2 to give latecomer foreign bidders time to prepare an offer, a source close to the sale said, Reuters reported. A call for bids for the fashion house, known for its "architectural" style in suits, was set to expire on Tuesday. In a statement on Monday, the special commissioners running parent company IT Holding, which went into administration in February 2009 after it ran out of cash, said the deadline for Ferre's auction was postponed to Aug.