Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on December 11, 2025
By Crispian Balmer
ROME, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Italy's government has summoned executives from GEDI and journalist representatives from its La Stampa and La Repubblica newspapers as political concern mounts over a planned sale of the group's editorial assets.
GEDI, which is owned by Agnelli family holding company Exor, announced earlier this week that it was in talks with Greek media company Antenna to sell its Italian news operations, including three popular radio stations.
Opposition politicians accused the Agnelli dynasty of seeking to withdraw from Italy, a country that for years offered its companies substantial public support.
Any sale would fall under Italy's "golden power" legislation, which allows the government to block or impose conditions on transactions affecting strategic assets such as media.
However, there has been no indication so far that Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni intends to trigger those special powers for La Repubblica and La Stampa, which have both been highly critical of her conservative government.
JOURNALISTS WALK OUT, POLITICIANS FRET
La Stampa journalists went on strike on Thursday, and the paper did not appear at the newsstands, after management confirmed that the business was up for sale. La Repubblica reporters are also threatening to strike.
In a statement on the La Stampa website, the paper's journalists said that Antenna was not interested in La Stampa, and that GEDI was looking to sell it separately from its other media assets.
Exor and Antenna declined to comment.
Elly Schlein, leader of the centre-left opposition Democratic Party, said she was worried that GEDI's sale would lead to the weakening or even the dismantlement of a pillar of Italy's journalistic heritage.
"After years of financial decisions that have progressively weakened the company, we now face a transfer to a foreign entity that offers no guarantees regarding jobs, future prospects, quality, and pluralism of information," she said.
NEWSPAPER SALES SUFFER DECLINE
La Stampa has been owned by the Agnelli family since the 1920s and is based in Turin -- the historical hometown of the Agnelli carmaker Fiat, now part of Dutch-headquartered Stellantis.
La Repubblica is Italy's second-biggest daily by circulation, while La Stampa ranks fifth, though both have suffered steep declines in print sales in recent years.
Exor acquired control of GEDI in 2019. The media group reported 224 million euros ($263 million) in revenue last year and a loss of 15 million euros.
Former industry minister Carlo Calenda renewed his criticism of Exor Chairman John Elkann over the group's strategy in Italy, linking the potential sale of the media business to broader concerns about the country's industrial base.
"It didn't take much to foresee that once all the industrial assets were sold off, the newspapers would no longer have any value for keeping politics and the unions happy. Here we are," he said.
Exor has previously dismissed Calenda's criticism, pointing to recent industrial investment in Italy.
($1 = 0.8511 euros)
(Writing by Crispian Balmer; Reporting by Elvira Pollina, Giuseppe Fonte, Angelo Amante and Giulio PiovaccariEditing by Keith Weir)
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