Italian companies are stepping up acquisitions of German companies, with a reverse flow of capital in Europe becoming increasingly evident through developments such as UniCredit's approved takeover of Commerzbank and Italo's expansion into the German market.
At seminars held over the past few weeks, interest in Germany has been growing alongside discussion of investment opportunities in Japan. The article points to the expanding trend of Italian CEOs acquiring German companies, citing Volkswagen's past acquisition of Lamborghini and purchase of Ducati as examples.
On 15 October this year, the ECB reportedly approved a hostile takeover of Germany's Commerzbank by UniCredit, one of Italy's largest financial institutions, for approximately €45 billion. This ranks among the larger corporate integrations in Europe.
Italo, known as Italy's high-speed rail operator, has announced plans to challenge the German market by 2028 on the Munich–Cologne–Dortmund and Munich–Berlin–Hamburg routes. While Deutsche Bahn has been criticised for operating delays, the Italian rail operator is highlighting its high on-time performance rate.
A year ago, MediaForEurope acquired Germany's second-largest private-sector broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1 for €1.8 billion and changed its CEO from the incumbent to an Italian. The article reports that total investment by Italian companies in Germany is expected to reach approximately €24 billion this year alone.
The author takes an optimistic view that the assertiveness of Italian CEOs and capital investment will lead Germany to become a "great country" again. The text was machine-translated from the original English.