Italy working with Pirelli, shareholders over Chinese investor's role

By Giulio Piovaccari and Cristina Carlevaro

MILAN (Reuters) -Italy's government said on Monday it was working "constructively" with Pirelli and its investors, as it seeks to help the tyre maker resolve a governance dispute that has weighed on the company in recent years.

Rome said it wanted to ensure Pirelli - which has complained that its main shareholder, state-backed Chinese group Sinochem, hampers its U.S. expansion plans - remains competitive in all of its markets and comply with changed rules there.

The comments came after Italy earlier on Monday offered Sinochem an olive branch by establishing that the Chinese group had not violated measures the Rome government imposed in 2023 to shield Pirelli using its special "golden" powers.

"The government is maintaining a constant and constructive dialogue with the company and its shareholders with a view to adapting its instruments to the new regulatory requirements of its reference markets in a timely manner and ensuring its full competitiveness in all the areas in which it operates," the government said in a statement.

The government two years ago used so-called "golden power" legislation, designed to shield companies deemed of strategic national importance, to curb Sinochem's influence inside Pirelli and to protect Pirelli's managerial autonomy.

Italian authorities launched a probe in November to assess whether Sinochem's board presence violated rules designed to ensure Pirelli's operational independence from its Chinese investor.

The government said on Monday that actions by non-independent directors appointed by Sinochem, which holds a 37% stake in Pirelli, did not compromise the company's management autonomy.

Pirelli and its second largest investor Camfin have said Sinochem's presence threatens the group's ambitions to expand in the United States, as Washington tightens restrictions on Chinese technology in the automotive sector.

The U.S. government is banning key software and hardware from Chinese-controlled companies in connected vehicles operating on U.S. roads.

Camfin is the investment vehicle of Marco Tronchetti Provera, an Italian businessman who has led Pirelli since 1992 and is now its executive vice chairman.

Rome has faced more recent calls from Tronchetti Provera to take further restrictive measures.

(Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari and Cristina Carlevaro, Editing by Valentina Za)