MILAN (Reuters) -The Italian government will monitor the sale of truckmaker Iveco to Indian group Tata Motors to make sure the company’s jobs, manufacturing footprint and local know-how are preserved in Italy, the industry minister said on Wednesday.
India’s Tata Motors last week agreed to buy Italy-based Iveco in a deal valuing it at 3.8 billion euros ($4.4 billion), while the truck and bus maker separately announced the sale of its IDV defence business to Leonardo, giving it an enterprise value of 1.7 billion euros.
Tata Motors pledged not to intervene for two years in Iveco’s workforce, organisation and governance, and avoid any material restructuring or plant closures, according to the statement that announced the deal.
The sale is expected to be finalised in 2026.
The Italian government “will continuously monitor the sale process to ensure utmost guarantees for the industrial and employment future of all production sites in the country”, Industry Minister Adolfo Urso said in parliament.
“We will monitor all aspects related to the protection of technology, research and industrial heritage, resorting, where necessary, to the tools provided for by current legislation to ensure adequate protection of assets of strategic importance.”
Iveco, which is controlled by Italy’s Agnelli family via their investment company Exor, closely coordinated with the Italian government as it finalised the Iveco deals, a source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters this week.
($1 = 0.8601 euros)
(Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari, editing by Alvise Armellini, Kirsten Donovan)
