Italy puts brakes on Pirelli’s Chinese shareholder

Rome: The Italian government has limited the powers of China’s Sinochem as a shareholder of tire maker Pirelli on national security grounds.

Rome deemed the sensors that are installed in tires made by Pirelli as a “critical technology of national strategic importance” and imposed measures including restrictions to the access of strategic information and higher vote thresholds (four-fifths of the company’s board) to take strategic decisions, the government said in a statement Friday evening.

The new vote threshold would prevent Sinochem from designating the chief executive officer of Pirelli despite being the company’s majority shareholder.

Restrictions “are intended to create a network of measures that protect: the autonomy of Pirelli & C. S.p.A and its management; the security of procedures; the protection of information of strategic importance; and the know-how possessed by the company,” the government in Rome said.

The decision has been taken under Italy’s so-called “golden power” rules, which allow the government to block deals or impose conditions when strategic assets are involved — a power often used toward Chinese investors, especially in the tech sector.

The decision comes as the Italian government led by Giorgia Meloni is trying to distance itself from Beijing. Rome is considering leaving China’s global infrastructure program, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI.)