Who is with Intesa Sanpaolo in higher education
Companies, managers, finance men and a Catholic foundation: everything about Intesa Sanpaolo's allies in the high education of Digit'Ed. Facts, names, numbers and curiosities
There is excitement in the higher education business. A profitable segment that is attracting the attention of foreign investment funds and large Italian groups.
There are two poles of attraction: on the one hand the online universities, on the other the companies active in professional training. According to Milano Finanza , the growing business of digital universities must however face two challenges: a regulatory risk ( which Start Magazine talked about ) and the return to post-pandemic normality is causing the wave of growth to recede for all digital businesses.
THE NUMBERS ON THE HIGHER EDUCATION MARKET
The professional training business, which again in 2022 reached a value of around two billion and is – added Milano Finanza – "slightly more protected from external regulatory risks".
Unlike the traditional cycle of studies which ends with a degree or a post-graduate master's degree, executive training is linked to the world of work and has no legal value, the economic-financial newspaper of the Class group remarked: "It is used for 'upskilling or reskilling within more specific corporate or managerial growth paths. Furthermore, here e-learning meets the traditional lack of space in companies to train their employees. In this segment of edtech, the main Italian operator is Digit'Ed”.
And Intesa Sanpaolo is the cornerstone of the project in the high education of Digit'Ed, the company resulting from the agreement with the asset management company Nextalia. The latest market coup, at the end of last July, was the acquisition of Business School24, the former Sole 24 Ore group.
WHAT DIGIT'ED SPA IS AND WHAT IT DOES
Digit'Ed was founded in 2022 by Intesa Sanpaolo Formazione and Nextalia Sgr, on behalf of the Nextalia Private Equity Fund, to create "a new reality, leader in training and digital learning" starting from the learning infrastructure in the hands of Ca' de Sass. Digit'Ed is aimed at both the business segment, i.e. large companies, SMEs, public administration and professional associations, and the consumer segment, in collaboration with Italian and international institutions.
The operation led to the birth of a group with over 20 years of experience in the sector, which has developed over 2,500 digital learning projects every year and with a catalog of over 10 thousand digital objects which has made it possible to disburse around 13 million in 2021. of training hours.
Digit'Ed is 100% owned by a holding of the same name whose partner is Edisco (controlled by Nextalia sgr) with a contribution of 1,666,946 euros, Intesa Sanpaolo with 429,282 euros, Gdb Srl with 43,303 euros, Siref Fiduciaria (also part of the group Intesa Sanpaolo) with 20,608 euros and Vittorio Zingales with 19,147 euros (Zingales was the founder of AltaFormazione later acquired by Nextalia). The share capital is equal to 774,600 and as of 30 June it had 220 employees and offices in Bergamo, Bologna, Cagliari, Milan, Naples, Rubano (PD), Foligno, Prato, Rome, Turin, Vicenza.
THE TOP OF DIGIT'ED
President of Digit'Ed spa is Gianandrea Edoardo De Bernardis, vice-president is Francesco Canzonieri (former Mediobanca banker). The board includes Stefano Lucchini, Roberta Neri, Giacomo D'Amico, Martina Peterlini, Maria Elena Bianchi, Antonia Venuto and Domenico Arcuri ( here is an in-depth look at the new professional life of the former number one of Invitalia and former extraordinary anti-Covid commissioner).
ARCURI'S NEW PROFESSIONAL LIFE
Speaking of the former CEO of Invitalia Arcuri , it should be remembered that today he is president of Treccani Reti, vice president of Treccani together with Giovanni Puglisi. Precisely between Treccani and Digit'Ed a "strategic partnership" has been underway for about a year to develop "highly qualifying training courses dedicated to new graduates, professionals, managers and companies" connected to the services offered by Intesa Sanpaolo Formazione e AltaFormazione, with the objective of making Digit'Ed "the reference platform in Italy for reskilling and strategic upskilling to support the country system". The picture would not be complete if it were not reported that Treccani has among its members not only Digit'Ed, but also Invitalia of which Arcuri was CEO from 2007 to 2022.
Perhaps the Digit'Ed operation that had the most resonance concerns the acquisition of Business School24 , which in 2019 the 24 Ore Group had sold entirely to the Palamon Capital Fund and which therefore became Italian again.
SOME NEWS ABOUT THE DIGIT'ED HOLDING…
As mentioned, the owner of Digit'Ed spa is the holding company of the same name which began its activity on 3 March 2022 and which has a share capital of 2,484,901 euros. President of Digit'Ed holding is Matteo Giuseppe Ricatti; the board of directors is made up of Alessandro Drudi, Gianandrea Edoardo De Bernardis, Martina Sgalippa and Alessandro Elio Fiorentino.
…AND ON THE SGR NEXTALIA
Nextalia sgr is an asset management company, based in Milan, promoted by the former Mediobanca banker, Francesco Canzonieri, who is its CEO and president of the Investment & ESG Committees. Shareholders include Intesa Sanpaolo, UnipolSai, Confindustria, Coldiretti and Micheli Associati. President is Francesco Micheli, partners are Alberto Vigo, Giorgio Libotte and Matteo Ricatti, president of Digit'Ed holding. Among the investment associates we find Alessandro Drudi and Martina Sgalippa, members of the holding's board. It currently boasts 1.1 billion in assets under management.
As stated on the website, Nextalia focuses on SMEs with high growth potential, "proposing itself as a reference partner to accelerate the path of value creation and expansion through capital investments, managerial support and access to the proprietary network".
WHAT IS EDISCO SPA
The majority shareholder of the holding with 1,666,946 euros is Edisco, in turn controlled by Nextalia sgr (1,542,843 euros). Among the other partners, the Siref fiduciary with 17,500 euros, the Monza and Brianza community foundation with 10 thousand euros and then Sandro Berra, Carlo Micheli, Andrea Micheli, Coro srl (all 5,000 euros) and Across fiduciaria spa (2,500 euros). The share capital of Edisco is equal to 1,998,000, the sole director and representative of the company is Ricatti.
THE FOUNDATION OF THE MONZA AND BRIANZA COMMUNITY
As we have seen, among the members of Edisco Spa there is also the foundation of Comunità Monza e Brianza, a non-profit organization founded in 2000 from a project of the much more well-known and powerful Fondazione Cariplo. From the foundation's website it emerges that so far it has supported 3,025 projects and disbursed 34 million. Other numbers: 6,000 donors, 1,352 beneficiary organizations, 82 active funds. To date, the Foundation has assets of almost 19.5 million euros, built up over time thanks to the contribution of companies, private and public institutions and individual citizens.
The members of the board of directors are volunteers appointed by a special committee made up of institutional officials. It includes the prefect of Monza and Brianza, the president of the Province, the archpriest of Monza, the president of the Court of Monza, the dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery – University of Milan Bicocca, the mayor of Monza, the president of Chamber of Commerce of Milan Monza and Brianza and Lodi, the president of the Presidium of Monza and Brianza – Assolombarda Confindustria Milan Monza Brianza Lodi, a representative of the Cariplo Foundation and members designated by the board of directors.
NEXTALIA IN COMPETITION WITH THE MULTIVERSITY GROUP?
As recently noted byStart Magazine , in fact the Nextalia group is increasingly competing with the Multiversity group, owner of 3 online universities and another center of the media spotlight on the one hand due to a regulatory risk also indicated in the financial statements of the group headed by 'ad, Fabio Vaccarono, and on the other for the case of the president of the Cnr, Maria Chiara Carrozza, who entered and then left the Multiversity advisory board after some articles in Start Magazine (here is the epilogue of the story , even if there remain some aspects to clarify ).
In the press release with which Multiversity announced the new advisory board we read that Umberto Delzanno , lawyer, Head of Corporate Legal Affairs of Mooney, has joined the group controlled by the CVC fund (which still wants to sell a share of the group) among the directors. the Italian fintech leader in personalized payment, mobility and proximity banking technological services and solutions, controlled by Enel and Intesa Sanpaolo, through the companies Enel X and Isybank.
Technical tests for harmony-synergies between Multiversity and Digit'Ed?
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/economia/intesa-sanpaolo-alta-formazione/ on Tue, 17 Oct 2023 07:44:12 +0000.