Now that he has turned the ailing Olivetti into one of the two most successful computer companies in Europe, any other aim expressed by Carlo de Benedetti has to be taken very seriously indeed. And according to the International Herald Tribune, his next information technology project is creation of a French-based pan-European information services company to challenge the supremacy of Reuters Plc here. De Benedetti’s French holding company, Cerus, Compagnies Europeennes Reunies, under the chairmanship of Alain Minc, has taken a 4.9% stake in Financial Times publisher S Pearson with that end in view, has taken control of the largest French financial services group, Dafsa, while de Benedetti owns a similar company, Radicor, in Italy. The aim is to marry the information collection resources of these three with Olivetti delivery technology.
