MILAN (Reuters) – Pirelli has postponed to April 28 the conclusions of its board meeting which had been scheduled to end on Thursday, the Italian tyremaker said, amid protracted tensions between leading investors.
The meeting, initially scheduled for Wednesday, was officially aimed at finally approving Pirelli’s financial report for last year. But the further delay suggests its Chinese and Italian shareholders are still at odds over the group’s governance arrangements and need more time to negotiate.
Pirelli’s largest investor is China’s state-owned Sinochem, which has a 37% stake. Its presence is increasingly seen by the Italian company as a potential hurdle to its efforts to do more business in the United States, under President Donald Trump.
Pirelli Chief Executive Andrea Casaluci said in a separate statement on Thursday that the management would continue to seek a solution that allows “the company to adapt to the new regulations of the American market, as it does in all the markets in which it operates”.
Discussions are ongoing between Pirelli and Sinochem on how to further reduce the Chinese conglomerate’s influence on the tyremaker, sources have said, after the Italian government intervened in 2023, under its so called ‘Golden Power’ regulations, to curb Sinochem’s powers and shield the autonomy of Pirelli’s management.
One option on the table could include convincing Sinochem to progressively divest from Pirelli.
The Italian group’s second largest investor is Camfin, the vehicle of businessman Marco Tronchetti Provera, who has effectively led Pirelli since 1992 and now holds the role of executive vice-chairman.
As a consequence of the board meeting’s postponement on Thursday, Pirelli’s annual shareholders’ meeting has been moved to June 12 from May 27, the company said.
(Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari, editing by Gavin Jones)
