Campari's parent company settles tax dispute with 405 million euro payment

By Elisa ‌Anzolin and Giulia Segreti

MILAN, Dec 16 (Reuters) - Lagfin, the Luxembourg-based holding company ‍that ‌controls Italian drinks group Campari, said it had settled a tax dispute with ⁠Italy's revenue agency and would ‌pay 405 million euros ($477 million) over four years.

The figure amounts to roughly a third of the 1.29 billion euros worth of Campari shares that Italy's tax police seized in ⁠October, following a probe by magistrates in Milan into allegedly unpaid taxes at the holding ​company.

Confirming what Reuters was first to report from sources, ‌Lagfin said on Tuesday it would ⁠pay 152 million euros by December 31 using funds it has already set aside to this end.

It will pay the rest of the sum ​in quarterly instalments starting in June 2027 through September 30, 2029.

Lagfin said in a statement it was confident it would have won the case had it gone to trial, but the prolonged uncertainty could have weighed ​on Campari's ‍shares.

Following the seizure, investors ​have been fretting the founding family, who controls Campari through Lagfin, could be forced to sell some shares.

"While Lagfin is confident that it would have prevailed in litigation, such proceedings would have inevitably extended over several years and through multiple levels of judgment," it said.

Lagfin reiterated that it had always acted ⁠in full compliance with all relevant laws.

The payment will seal the tax dispute, but the impact of the ​settlement on the criminal investigation is still unclear.

Prosecutors allege they have found 5.3 billion euros in undeclared capital gains between 2018 and 2020, on which Lagfin failed to pay a 1.29 billion euro ‌exit tax levied on firms that move their fiscal residence abroad.($1 = 0.8499 euros)

($1 = 0.8493 euros)

(Additional reporting by Emilio Parodi, editing by Gavin Jones and Valentina Za)