The games between Iervolino and Ammaturo with L’Espresso
L'Espresso changes hands again: from the Iervolino group to the Ammaturo family, owners of the Ludoil oil company. Facts, names, numbers and niceties
There is no peace for the weekly L'Espresso . The weekly, founded by Arrigo Benedetti and Eugenio Scalfari 67 years ago, becomes 100% owned by the Ludoil Energy group of the Ammaturo family. On 27 June 2022 he moved from the Gedi group to Bfc Media, the group headed by the entrepreneur Danilo Iervolino.
The project which was supposed to include "the consolidation and development of the weekly magazine, accompanied by a strong multimedia push through new technologies" was thus concluded. The process of rapprochement between L'Espresso and the Ammaturo family had been going on for several months: since last June Iervolino had opened the doors of his editorial group to the Ammaturo family .
Here are facts, names, numbers and details about Ammaturo, Ludoil and beyond.
THE ESPRESSO ENDS IN THE HANDS OF THE AMMATURO FAMILY
A year and a half later, the ownership structure of the progressive weekly changes again. A note released by the group explains what happens to the ownership of L'Espresso . “The Ludoil Energy Group of the Ammaturo family purchases 51% of L'Espresso Media from BFC Media headed by Danilo Iervolino. At the same time, Alga of the Ammaturo Group sells 24.3% of BFC Media to IDI Srl, Danilo Iervolino's company". Therefore, on the one hand Ammaturo's share rises from 49% to 100% of the publishing house of L'Espresso and on the other Iervolino strengthens his share in BFC Media which publishes, among others, the Italian edition of Forbes magazine. In June 2022 Bfc Media had purchased the weekly through its subsidiary L'Espresso Media, 51% owned by Bfc Media (of which Iervolino holds the controlling share) and 49% by the sole shareholder Idi Danilo Iervolino. The value of the operation was 4.5 million euros.
THE CONCERNS OF THE EDITORIAL COMMITTEE OF L'ESPRESSO
The editorial committee of the left-wing weekly commented with concern on this new corporate change. “After a year and a half of bombastic announcements from key shareholder Danilo Iervolino, a truly important announcement has reached us in the press. In fact, we learned from " Il Giornale ", before the news was confirmed by an official press release, of the imminent sale of Espresso to the Ludoil group of the Ammaturo family – write the journalists of L'Espresso -. While waiting to discover with a constructive spirit the development and relaunch plans of the new owners of L'Espresso, we reiterate that it will be the task of the editorial committee – which operates with the mandate of the entire assembly – to always monitor and act to protect the prestige and independence of the header".
WHAT THE NEW OWNER OF L'ESPRESSO DOES
The Ludoil group , owned by the Ammaturo family, controlled by the parent company Ludoil Energy, is engaged in the sale, logistics and distribution of petroleum products. The company is based in Nola, in the province of Naples. As reported on the company portal, sales are managed by Ludoil Energia Srl, while logistics on the various depots are managed by SO.DE.CO. Srl. “The latter, in fact, holds the shares of the various companies that own and manage Ludoil's oil assets”. The network of service stations, more than 150 with the Ludoil, Staroil, Italfuel, Alteroil, Easy fuel brands, all owned by the company, and with the Eni affiliated brand, are headed by Ludoil Re Spa, a company connected to the group but outside the scope of the consolidation.
ALL THE NUMBERS OF THE AMMATURO FAMILY'S LUDOIL
Ludoil, according to data processed by the CoMar Study Center , achieved a turnover of 1,505,595,000 euros in 2022, more than doubling the result of 2021. The net operating margin for 2022 was 10,134,000, an increase compared to 2021 (7,970.00). The number of employees also increased, going from 168 to 181. Debts fell: the ratio based on turnover went from 14.94% in 2021 to 4.99% in 2023.
THE OBJECTIVES, NOT REALIZED, BY IERVOLINO: 1 MILLION SUBSCRIBERS
“We aim to have one million online subscriptions next year, also focusing on B2B”. This was the bombastic announcement with which the editor of Bfc Media and L'Espresso , Danilo Iervolino, took office. “We will be – he explained – the first 'Netzine', network and magazine, in a community that can be debated: there will be user participation to delve deeper and discuss the contents with journalists”. The objective was "to create one of the largest magazines in Europe", to give life to an irreverent magazine "so that L'Espresso can represent a true standard-bearer in the change in publishing", a weekly magazine that "will espouse the causes of sustainability, interculturality, inclusion, smart cities, telemedicine, microrobotics, etc.: we are progressive and we will continue to be divisive on this."
THE GREEN, INDEPENDENT AND DIGITAL NEWSPAPER THAT HAS NEVER SEEN THE LIGHT
Iervolino had promised that he would have to rediscover "the spirit of a slow reading that changes the mood, the atmosphere and the view on life, which is investigative but also propositional, which can unleash the passion for politics" in a paper newspaper. as for the economy, which shouts out for great injustices, which is close to the weak, which is for the green and for peace, to reduce inequalities, which is against crime, which tells the story of the new faces that will change the world, may it be courageous, the newspaper of those who want change". Not only. The push on digital should have been very strong. “When we talk about online publishing, we don't simply mean the online newspaper. That's just one aspect." But first of all L'Espresso imagined and promised by Iervolino had to be independent. “The Espresso model will remain totally independent. Totally – he underlined -. I am sure that I will be able to do anything in business. I like to do, I'm a builder. But I will never do politics."
L'ESPRESSO: FROM LIRIO ABBATE TO ALESSANDRO ROSSI
Things went a little differently. Starting with the way in which the director Lirio Abbate, who was initially entrusted with the direction of the weekly, was treated. Lirio Abbate promised "a new magazine that disrupts its layout, with a graphic project that focuses on images: large and exclusive, often signed by great photographers". The fulcrum of Abbate's magazine was to be a "multimedia contamination in the paper newspaper: there will be a QR Code on each article which refers not only to reading but also to listening, to videos, and to everything that can enrich the service". After less than six months, the publisher Iervolino fired Lirio Abbate in favor of Alessandro Mauro Rossi, director of Forbes Italia and editorial director of the Bfc Media group. Already at the time the editorial staff of L' Espresso entered into a state of agitation and asked the Cdr to "take every type of initiative to protect the prestige and independence of the newspaper".
THE REASONS BEHIND LIRIO ABBATE'S REMOVAL
According to what was reported at the time by Dagospia, what was responsible for the change was an investigation, published in the Sunday 11 December edition, on the Amazon. The article, signed by Paolo Biondani and Pietro Mecarozzi, contained a very harsh attack on Exor and Cnh by John Elkann. “The two Agnelli companies were brought into play among those that finance the Brazilian giants accused of the fires that are devastating the Amazon forests – we read on Dagospia -. And Yaki, mindful of the good times when he was the editor of L'Espresso, would not have liked it at all. The lawyer's nephew got angry and pointed it out to Iervolino, threatening to tear up the agreement for the distribution of the weekly magazine attached to Repubblica (which expires in March). And at that point the lively "golden boy" of Italian publishing took revenge on the director."
WHAT THE EDITOR OF L'ESPRESSO ALESSANDRO ROSSI WROTE ABOUT THE AMMATURO FAMILY
The arrival of the Ammaturo family's capital was celebrated with nothing short of enthusiastic tones by Forbes , then directed by Alessandro Mauro Rossi (also current director of the weekly L'Espresso ). “The history of energy in Italy bears the name of Donato Ammaturo”, wrote the director who even defined the entrepreneur as a “visionary” for having “transformed a family company, founded in 1954 by his grandfather, also Donato, into one of the most important private energy groups in Europe”. All this is underlined by Forbes in the article promptly posted on social media by the Ludoil group , "always under the banner of ethics". The same banner that should accompany the editorial adventure. “Donato – underlines Forbes – wants to do it on tiptoe”, but more than out of respect for the history of the newspaper and the editorial team because he recognizes “the undisputed leadership of his friend Danilo (they have known each other since childhood because they are both from Palma Campania) , but ready to bring his entrepreneurial experience to this adventure and provide the necessary financial support to better implement the L'Espresso project developed by his partner-friend".
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/economia/i-giochini-fra-iervolino-e-ammaturo-con-lespresso/ on Tue, 12 Dec 2023 13:52:27 +0000.