Where there is Barilla there is home (in Holland)
Why does the Italian food group set up Barilla International, an internationalization holding company, in the Netherlands? Facts and insights
The first news in this sense dates back to the beginning of last June , when the group, synonymous with Italian cuisine in the world, announced its intention to open a development hub in Amsterdam. Faced with the astonishment of the Italian market, the pasta factory had reassured that Parma would remain central. The same message that Corriere della Sera takes care to give today , which however also reports that "the reorganization plan hinges on a Dutch holding company, the newly established Barilla International BV, with headquarters in Amsterdam", therefore not only the registered office.
“From 2024 the group – writes the RCS daily – Barilla will have a new corporate format. In the summer months, the reorganization of the Italian pasta giant took shape, which aims to accelerate its international growth. The heart and head of the company will remain in Parma, but the reorganization plan hinges on a Dutch holding company, the newly established Barilla International BV, based in Amsterdam”.
How are things then?
BARILLA REMAINS IN ITALY, THE HUB FOR INTERNATIONALIZATION IN THE NETHERLANDS
According to Barilla, there is no intention of packing up and adding to the ever-growing list of Italian companies of a certain size that prefer Holland for their registered office: "Registered office, economic balance sheet, trademarks and patents will remain in Parma”, underlines the group to reveal what Corsera limited itself to summarizing with the expression “the heart and the head of the company will remain in Parma”.
After all, Barilla already had an international soul with branches throughout Europe, from London (digital hub) to Germany: now, according to the new structure, the parent company of Barilla G. E R. Fratelli will have its headquarters in the Netherlands. The Dutch hub, according to the food group, will be headed by the Italian Barilla Holding.
THE COMPANIES WHICH MOVE COMPLETELY TO THE NETHERLANDS
On the other hand, as Corriere always recalls, 13 listed companies have transferred their registered office abroad, mostly to the Netherlands, in the last 10 years ( here the in-depth analysis from Start Magazine ). More than once a year.
SEPTEMBER, COME ON, IT'S TIME TO MIGRATE
These are excellences of the caliber of Campari, Mediaset and Ferrari, which, Corsera points out , together account for 22% of the total capitalization of Borsa Italiana and 27% of the main index Ftse Mib.
The first to start was Cnh Industrial (Exor) in 2013 and obviously the Fiat of the deceased Marchionne in 2014. Two years later, Exor and Ferrari followed to complete the package. Cementir Holding of Caltagirone packed its bags in 2019, Campari in '21 with Mfe-Mediaforeurope (Berlusconi) and the Ariston of Fabriano, then it was the turn of Iveco and Brembo .
FLYING DUTCHERS
Excellencies, in fact, that claim their Italian identity at every turn. So why, sooner or later, does everyone decide to transfer the holding company to the Netherlands? On Start the insights were varied.
“The strong appeal of Holland overall is also due to the much more advantageous legal and tax regime compared to the Italian one. The Netherlands has a much more flexible and light corporate and tax system. In the specific case, they will eventually be able to distribute profits in the Netherlands by paying little or nothing”, underlined an accountant speaking with Startmag .
“Tax haven according to some, highly efficient and competitive ecosystem for others. However, what is evident, now even to the sometimes somewhat peripheral eyes of southern Europe, is the centrality of the square in Amsterdam in the capitalism of the old continent, increasingly orphaned of London and its advantages”, commented Alessandro Galimberti on the Sole 24 Ore: “But it is above all on rulings, i.e. the preventive agreements with the tax authorities on the issue of tax management of internal flows of multinationals, that Holland often has an edge, and faster, compared to other European partners, not excluding Italy. Furthermore, the Netherlands makes more than 150 international agreements available to the taxpayer, mainly bilateral agreements against double taxation – a kind of insurance against the risk of international tax disputes”.
Furthermore, "the Dutch tax law does not provide for taxation on outgoing royalties – licenses and concessions – and last but not least, the rates equivalent to our Ires will drop to 14.5% in 2020 for micro-enterprises (up to 200 thousand euros in revenues) and 22.5% above that threshold (currently 1.5% more than the corresponding tax applied by the Italian tax authorities)”, wrote il Sole .
Naturally, Italian companies are right to transfer their registered office to where it is more advantageous, especially if they intend to open up to the world, however the doubt remains about the way in which the European Union was built: why such advantageous conditions are not understood as state aid , given that they distort the competition between the 27 member countries in exactly the same way as funding or bailouts?
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/economia/dove-ce-barilla-ce-casa-in-olanda/ on Tue, 05 Sep 2023 10:01:33 +0000.