Hdp

Holding of Industrial Shareholdings. Established 6 March 1997 by the partial division of Gemina. It took over 100% of the editorial group RCS, the majority parcel of Gft Net (a fashion group), and Fila. The group’s president is Guido Roberto Vitale, the vice-president Paolo Mieli, and the general manager Maurizio Romiti. On 1 May 2003, 44.883% of the ordinary stock became controlled by a syndicate agreement represented by eleven shareholders (Fiat, Mediobanca, Gemina, Italmobiliare, Generali, Pirelli, IntesaBci, Sinpar, Smeg, Edison, and Mittel). Initially the holding consisted of two prevailing businesses: publishing with the Group Rizzoli-Corriere della Sera, and fashion, which was a sector that the company entered into in 1988, acquiring the majority (53.2%) of Fila, a company owned by Biella competing in activewear. This first experience in fashion was amplified in 1995, when the Milanese holding was joined by the Gruppo Finanziario Tessile of Turin (Gft). In March 1998 (in the meantime, Gemina has become part of Hdp) the acquisition of the Valentino fashion house, next to Fila and Gft, preluded an entry into the Italian luxury sector, which has never really taken off. In the three-year period 1998-2000, the Milanese holding had very bad financial results, influenced by the negative trend of fashion companies. It was a loss calculated around 843 billions of old Liras. The negative results of the previous three years continued in 2001. The net consolidated proceedings amounted to 3,357.2 million Euros in line with the 3,357.7 of 2000, but this was resulting from contrasting trends. The rise of 14.9% registered by RCS was in contrast with a decline in the proceedings of Fila (-2.4%) and Gft Net (-39.7%) guided by Valentino. The operational result was negative with 33 million Euros, while the net result for the year was -232.1 million Euros. However the real Achilles’ heel for the group was the financial net debt of 594.4 million Euros. The negative results of the controlled companies in the fashion-clothing sector have heavily influenced Hdp’s accounts. Within Gft Net, which closed with a loss of 79.6 million Euros, Valentino, despite increasing its turnover of 12%, had a negative operational profit of 16.8 million Euros (against 14.8 in 2000) and a net loss of 28.5 million (against 25.6). The financial debt at the end of 2001 amounted to 281.7 million Euros. For Fila, the operational results amounted to -45.1 million Euros, while the net result was -139.7 million Euros, double compared with the previous year. These results forced the board of directors to examine ‘the complex procedure of negotiations towards selling Fila and Valentino’ and to focus on the group’s involvement solely in the publishing and communications sectors. In March 2002 Hdp announced that the controlled Gft Net had sold Valentino to the Marzotto group. The agreement concluded with the vision to transfer 100% of Valentino’s capital against a sum, inclusive of all financial debt, of 240 million Euros. In 2001 Valentino’s turnover was 132.5 million Euros, with a loss of 28.5 million Euros. The debts for the Hdp group (155 million Euros) were to be reimbursed in full at the closing. This operation was an important step in establishing Hdp’s strategy of removing the group from business in the fashion sector and a focus on the publishing and communications sectors. For this purpose, Hdp had already sold some branches belonging to Gft Net (Sahzà, Revedi, Bosconero’s factory, and its license with Calvin Klein) in 2001 and in the first few months of 2002. In July 2002, Gft Net sold Facis SpA. (an established brand of Italian menswear) and 96.3% of Svik’s production plant to Mediconf for a sum of 6.2 million Euros, excluding financial debts. In order to close completely the group’s activity in the clothing sector, only the sale of Fila remained. On 10 June 2003, Fila Holding was sold to Sport Brands International, controlled by the private American fund Cerberus. Cerberus’ own operational shareholdings included Fila Nederland BV, Fila Sport SpA., Ciesse Piumini Srl., and Fila USA Inc. The luxury adventure was over. The corporate name changed accordingly from Hdp to RCS MediaGroup on 1 May 2003. RCS MediaGroup controls RCS Quotidiani, RCS Periodici, RCS Libri, RCS Pubblicità, RCS Diffusione, and RCS Broadcast, which are all active in the sectors of publishing and communications.