Pirelli has snapped up a majority share in Italy's largest executive air charter and management company, Eurofly. The tyre and cable manufacturer has increased its share from 10% to 65%, having acquired the remaining 20% share from the Valla family and the bulk of the stake held by computer giant Olivetti. The Turin Airport-based company is now majority owned by Pirelli, with Olivetti holding a 25% stake and private investors the remaining 10%. "This is only an intermediate step, we are expecting further changes to the company over the next three months," says Eurofly's chief executive Domenico Osella. Osella declines to disclose details of the changes, but it is believed that an outside company is interested in taking a shareholding.
Eurofly, which operates and manages a fleet of 16 aircraft from its bases in Milan, Florence, Bologne and Treviso, and was set up in 1978 by the Valla family and Olivetti, has an annual turnover of 11.3 billion lire ($30 million), which it hopes will significantly increase once the new investor is on board. "We would like to expand into Europe and renew our fleet at some stage, but there are no immediate plans," adds Osella.
Source: Flight International
