A courtroom in Turin is ready to rule within the coming weeks on an inheritance dispute dividing the Agnelli household, the founders of the Fiat automobile firm and arguably the very best identified of Italy’s business dynasties.
The case stems from the property of Gianni Agnelli, the celebrated Fiat boss who was an emblem of Italy’s post-war financial growth and died 20 years in the past.
It pits Agnelli’s daughter Margherita, who inherited 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion), in opposition to three of her eight kids together with her eldest, John Elkann, the chairman of Ferrari and carmaker Stellantis.
In the dispute that has riven one in all Italy’s elite households, Margherita is preventing to overturn agreements she signed after her father’s loss of life with a view to ultimately profit her 5 kids from a second marriage, sources near her say.
Should the Turin courtroom determine in her favour, Margherita, who’s 67 and Gianni Agnelli’s solely surviving baby, may stake a declare to half of her late mom’s property and a share within the Elkann household business.
“GENEVA PACTS” AT CENTRE OF DISPUTE
The dispute has its origins in an inheritance deal referred to as the “Geneva pacts” that Margherita, an artist and philanthropist, signed in 2004 after the loss of life of her father the earlier yr and agreed when Fiat was getting ready to chapter.
Under the primary pact, Margherita obtained property, artworks and different liquid belongings from Gianni’s property and renounced any future affect within the Dicembre (December) firm, a key a part of the possession construction of Exor, the Agnelli-family holding.
The pacts cemented John Elkann’s place as Gianni Agnelli’s chosen successor and successfully took his mom Margherita out of the equation.
John Elkann, 47, now leads Exor, which owns slices of prestigious companies and types together with nationwide newspapers and soccer membership Juventus .
The second pact lined what would occur to the property of Margherita’s mom Marella, who died solely in 2019 aged 91.
Marella handed her Dicembre stake to 3 of her grandchildren, John, his brother Lapo and sister Ginevra, from Margherita’s first marriage to journalist Alain Elkann.
Margherita desires the pacts to be rescinded to have the ability to give her kids with second husband Serge De Pahlen, a Franco-Russian former Fiat govt, a share of their grandmother’s property, sources near her say.
Margherita additionally argues that undeclared wealth belonging to her father was found after his loss of life and that she is entitled to a share of this together with different relations.
A supply on Margherita’s facet dismissed ideas that the preliminary settlement lined the potential of extra hidden belongings being discovered from Gianni Agnelli’s property.
LEGAL CLAIM IN SWITZERLAND OR ITALY?
Marella’s loss of life prompted the authorized declare that’s on the centre of the case that opened three years in the past in Turin, the house of Fiat and conventional base for the Agnelli clan.
It is the newest in a collection of courtroom battles over the inheritance, unfold between Switzerland and Italy over the previous 15 years.
Margherita’s attorneys in Turin argue that the “Geneva pacts” ought to be declared null and void as a result of they had been signed on the idea that Marella’s residence was in Switzerland, which they dispute. Italian regulation prohibits such inheritance pacts.
Documents filed by Margherita’s attorneys with the courtroom of Turin, which have been reviewed by Reuters and embody experiences by personal investigators, declare that from 2003 to 2019 Marella by no means spent greater than 4 months a yr in Switzerland and shouldn’t have certified as a Swiss resident.
Sources near the Elkann camp keep that each the Swiss and the Italian authorities confirmed Marella Agnelli’s standing as a Swiss resident when she died in 2019 and likewise in 2004 when the inheritance settlement was signed.
The supply on Margherita’s facet disputes that interpretation.
SHARES IN THE FAMILY FIRM
Following Marella’s loss of life, John Elkann has a 60% share of the Dicembre holding whereas brother Lapo and sister Ginevra every have 20%. Dicembre is on the coronary heart of an online of corporations spanning the huge Agnelli household investments.
It is the biggest shareholder, with a 38% stake, in Giovanni Agnelli BV, which teams round 100 shareholders representing round 200 dwelling descendants of unique Fiat founder Giovanni Agnelli.
Giovanni Agnelli BV in flip has a 53% controlling stake in listed Exor, which owns stakes in Stellantis, Ferrari and Juventus.
The sources near the Elkanns keep there isn’t any authorized end result that may reverse the switch of the shares in Dicembre to the Elkanns. The claims of Margherita search to acquire unwarranted additional monetary benefit, they are saying.
A verdict is due in Turin earlier than the summer time break nevertheless it may not be an finish to an affair that has left Margherita estranged from her first three kids.
The Italian judges have the choice of suspending judgment pending a ruling from a Swiss courtroom in a parallel case on the legality of the Geneva pacts.
Source: www.anews.com.tr
