Italian authorities have seized shares worth €1.3bn (£1.1bn; $1.5bn) from Lagfin, the holding company controlling Campari Group, amid allegations of tax evasion.
The confiscation order, issued by officials, is part of an ongoing year-long investigation into Lagfin’s absorption of its Italian subsidiary.
The company is accused of failing to remit taxes, allegedly amounting to a similar value as the seized shares, during the aforementioned merger. Lagfin maintains that it has consistently adhered to all applicable tax regulations.
Campari Group, whose portfolio includes brands like Aperol, Grand Marnier, and Courvoisier, has stated that neither it nor its subsidiaries are implicated in the investigation.
However, according to local media reports, Chairman Luca Garavoglia is among those currently under investigation.
Lagfin, which holds over 50% of Campari shares and 80% of its voting rights, affirmed in a statement to the BBC that it has “always acted in the most scrupulous respect of any applicable laws and regulations, including any Italian tax laws”.
Milan prosecutors initiated their inquiry into the company last year. Financial police stated on Friday that they have allegedly uncovered €5.3bn in undeclared capital gains between 2018 and 2020, on which the company purportedly failed to pay the “exit tax” levied on firms relocating their headquarters abroad.
Furthermore, the company is accused of transferring its Italian assets into foreign ownership solely for tax avoidance purposes, as reported by Italian financial newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore.
Mr. Garavoglia, the billionaire who inherited Campari ownership from his late mother, is implicated alongside Giovanni Berto, the head of Campari’s Italian division, according to local media outlets.
Lagfin has stated that it will “defend itself vigorously” in the matter, which it characterizes as a “tax dispute”.
The company emphasized that Campari has never been involved “in any manner whatsoever” in the situation, adding that the seizure, given Lagfin’s 80% control of Campari’s voting rights, is “absolutely unable to affect the position of Lagfin as controlling shareholder of Campari”.
Campari, one of the world’s largest spirits producers, has a market capitalization of approximately €7bn on the Milan Stock Exchange.
The company’s origins trace back to 1860, when Gaspare Campari’s homemade bitter liqueur gained popularity among patrons of his Milan bar.
Its success led his family to begin commercial production in 1904, and from the 1990s onward, the firm began acquiring other alcohol brands.
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