Iveco up for sale, Tata Motors among the contenders

ROME – Iveco, the group that produces commercial vehicles and buses, is reportedly up for sale . The rumor comes from Reuters, and Exor , the holding company of the Agnelli-Elkann family that controls the company, which has its registered office in Amsterdam and its operational headquarters in Turin with a 27% stake, has not commented . Among the potential buyers is India's Tata Motors, a historic partner of Fiat in several joint ventures for the production of vehicles and engines. And the sale would not include the defense business: Iveco Defence is already the subject of a separate evaluation and a split from the group for a possible listing or sale. Several groups have come forward with non-binding offers, including Italy's Leonardo together with Germany's Rheinmetall , as well as the Franco-German consortium KNDS , the Czech group CSG , and the British group BAE Systems .

Iveco, which celebrated its 50th anniversary a month ago and also produces engines, has a market capitalization of approximately €4.2 billion. It is the smallest of the major truck manufacturers in Europe—a market led by Volvo, Daimler, and Traton—and has always been considered a potential merger and acquisition candidate by investors and analysts. The development of activities in the sensitive defense sector has made deals difficult and limited the number of potential buyers.

In 2021, despite pressure from the Italian government, negotiations with the Chinese company FAW collapsed. Iveco was part of the industrial conglomerate CNH Industrial. It was spun off and listed separately on the Italian stock exchange in early 2022. Today, Iveco employs 36,000 people globally, 14,000 of whom are in Italy.

The unions are concerned about the possible sale and are calling for government intervention. It's likely that any transaction involving Iveco would fall under the "golden power" principle with respect to the national interest . The rumor caused the stock to soar, causing a dramatic rise on the Milan stock exchange. The stock, which had risen over 9% after initial rumors, which Exor never denied, ultimately gained 8.32% to 16.6 euros.