Analysts treated as the ultimate yawn overheated stories that Ing C Olivetti & Co SpA was finally about to sell its personal computer business – especially since the only names in the stories are the US buyout funds that have already been identified as the only suitors. Analysts estimated a deal to dump the personal computer arm could be worth around $130m in cash and debt reduction, but debt is so enormous that that would be a drop in the ocean. US financier Edward Gottesman of the Centenary group is said to be working on a bid with Zanussi SpA chairman Gianmario Rossignolo while US corporate debt trader Gary Klesch, head of London-based Klesch & Co, is also again said to be interested. Rossignolo confirmed a report in Il Sole 24 Ore that he is discussing doing a deal with Centenary in which he would become executive chairman of the company that would buy the division, to give the deal a skimpy Italian fig-leaf.
