Pirelli's Chinese shareholder Sinochem said on Monday it had put forward a “structured solution” to end a governance dispute with the tyre maker’s Italian investor Camfin. The announcement comes as the Italian government assesses options to limit Sinochem’s influence over Pirelli to ease the company’s US expansion.
Pirelli’s largest shareholder, Beijing-controlled Sinochem, holds a 34.1 per cent stake, while Camfin—the vehicle of Italian businessman Marco Tronchetti Provera—holds a 25.3 per cent stake and plans to increase it to up to 29.9 per cent. Sinochem said in a statement on Monday it had submitted a “structured, well-founded proposal based on standard and widely used corporate tools in line with best international practice, with the objective of addressing both Pirelli’s governance framework and the concerns relating to US regulatory requirements if any”.
Camfin and Pirelli itself complain that having a Chinese company as its main shareholder poses a hurdle to the group’s US expansion, as Washington tightens restrictions on Chinese technology in the automotive sector. The Italian government is assessing options to limit Sinochem’s influence over Pirelli, or even turn it into a passive shareholder, in a bid to ease the tyre maker’s US expansion.
The Chinese investor said it hoped its proposal would be “neutrally assessed with genuine cooperative spirit by other involved parties”, without providing details of its solution. This dispute highlights the impact of geopolitical tensions on multinational corporate governance, particularly in the automotive sector amid US regulatory scrutiny.
