StMicroelectronics, this is why the Italy-France clashes do not subside
There really is an imbalance in StMicroelectronics' investments between France and Italy, as the Meloni government complains. Facts, names and rumors
Are the Italy-France tensions over StMicroelectronics really over?
That's why the answer is negative.
NOT ONLY STM. HERE ARE THE TENSIONS BETWEEN ITALY AND FRANCE
After Tim (due to disagreements with Vivendi on the sale of the network), ex-Microtecnica (due to the attempted acquisition by Safran ), ITA Airways (due to Air France 's hostility to the operation with Lufthansa) and also Stellantis , the political tensions industrialists between Italy and France have also reached StMicroelectronics.
In fact, Giorgia Meloni's government accuses the leaders of the semiconductor company – controlled by the Italian Ministry of Economy and the French state bank Bpifrance – of favoring France with investments. Palazzo Chigi would have had reservations about the reconfirmation of CEO Jean-Marc Chery (in the photo) for another three years, having not liked the internal reorganization strategy which eliminated the unit headed by Marco Monti – called Automotive and Discrete Product – , composed mainly of Italians.
THE LATEST NEWS ON STMICROELECTRONICS: BIG NAME DECISIVE?
In recent days, the supervisory board of StMicroelectronics made Chery's re-nomination official, also proposing Lorenzo Grandi – the current financial director – to the company's management board , again for a period of three years. The appointments will be made official during the shareholders' meeting on May 22nd.
Grandi's proposal should allow – according to the wishes of the executive and in particular of the Mef led by Giancarlo Giorgetti – to rebalance the Italian presence with the French one at the top of StMicroelectronics, in order to smooth out the tensions between Rome and Paris. According to Ansa , it was Minister Giorgetti who "worked" to rebalance the company through the inclusion of Grandi on the board .
However, it is not certain that Grandi's entry will prove to be truly fruitful for Italy: on the other hand, can Grandi, due to his role and functional dependencies, really be the "controller" of Chery and influence the leadership of the group? The answer leans towards no.
THE ROLE OF TAMAGNINI AT THE ROME EXAM
Furthermore, on the supervisory board of StMicroelectronics there is already an Italian, Maurizio Tamagnini , vice-president and in the past also president. Yet no words of appreciation towards him are heard at the Mef, according to rumors collected by Start Magazine . Not only that: in Italian institutional circles the question is whether and to what extent Tamagnini has protected national interests or whether foreign investors (including French) are able to influence the FSI's moves or not.
DOES STMICROELECTRONICS BENEFIT FRANCE? THE COMPARISON WITH INVESTMENTS IN ITALY
According to reconstructions filtered by investment banks, there really is an imbalance in StMicroelectronics' investments, which favors France over Italy in both monetary and technological terms.
Between 2019 and 2023 the company invested approximately 3.2 billion euros in Italy and 4.9 billion in France. Beyond the absolute values, the sums invested in semiconductor technology with a diameter of three hundred millimeters (the most recent generation) were 1.7 billion euros in Italy and 3.9 billion in France. Investments in France, therefore, were more than 50 percent higher than those in Italy, worsening the ratio of the five-year period preceding the one considered: investments in three hundred millimeter devices, in short, aggravated the investment imbalance rather than bringing it back to equality.
StMicroelectronics has invested over 6 billion dollars in the production of three hundred millimeter semiconductors in Grenoble, France, compared to approximately 1.7 billion in the Agrate plant, in Lombardy. Furthermore, the Agrate plant does not yet have sufficient machinery to develop commercial volumes and has not reached the production capacity expected for 2021 (five hundred slices of semiconductor per week).
And Agrate's delays – according to the analysis circulating in the investment banks that study the sector – actually benefited Grenoble.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/economia/confronto-investimenti-stmicroelectronics-francia-italia/ on Tue, 02 Apr 2024 05:51:05 +0000.