Ing C Olivetti & Co SpA says it is having to put a string of assets on the block at the behest of increasingly restive bankers, but many investors and observers are dismayed that part of its 41.3% of Omnitel-Pronto Italia SpA is among the things to go. It insists it will receive hard cash for its personal computer business, but it’s difficult to see the firm surviving for very long as a stand-alone company in the present state of the market. Meanwhile, for those (like us) a little confused as to just how Ing C Olivetti & Co SpA holds 41.3% of Omnitel-Pronto Italia SpA, the company currenty holds 59% of Omnitel Sistemi Radiocellulari Italiana SpA, which in turn has 70% of Omnitel-Pronto Italia, and 70% of 59% is 41.3%. The 59% of Omnitel Sistemi will fall to 51% when it sells an 8% stake in the business to Mannesman AG, reducing Olivetti’s stake in the entire entity to 35.7%, which still gives it control, since it has control of the controlling shareholder, but a rather smaller stake in the firm.
