CIR Group
| File:CIR Group.svg | |
| Company type | Società per azioni (BIT: CIR) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Holding company |
| Founded | 1976 |
| Headquarters | Milan, Italy |
Key people | Rodolfo De Benedetti (Executive Chairman), Monica Mondardini (CEO) |
| Products | Industrial holdings |
| €10.1 million (2011) | |
| Total assets | €8.090 billion (end 2012) |
Number of employees | 14,111 (2013) |
| Website | www.cirgroup.com |
CIR Group (Compagnie Industriali Riunite) is an Italian holding company listed on the stock exchange which is 46% controlled by COFIDE of the De Benedetti family. The company was founded in 1976, when Carlo De Benedetti acquired the company Concerie Italiane Riunite, a Turin based tanning company, from its historic owner the Bocca family and transformed it into an industrial holding company. The company was then renamed Compagnie Industriali Riunite. Chief Executive of CIR for almost twenty years, Rodolfo De Benedetti is now Executive Chairman of the company.[2] Monica Mondardini is Chief Executive.
Today CIR heads an industrial group active in media, automotive components, healthcare, non-core investments and energy. In 2013 the CIR group reported revenues of 4.7 billion euro.[3] The group has around 14 thousand employees.
The Group
In the media sector CIR controls Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso, the publishing company listed on the Italian stock exchange, which owns the daily newspaper la Repubblica, the weekly magazine L’Espresso plus other magazines, 18 local newspapers, three national radio stations (Radio Deejay, Radio Capital and M2O), two television channels, a digital division and an advertising concessionaire. The group is also active in television infrastructure with five multiplexes for digital terrestrial broadcasting. In 2013 Gruppo Editoriale l’Espresso reported revenues of 711.6 million euro.
In automotive components it is present with the subsidiary SOGEFI, one of the main operators worldwide in the engine system sector (filters and air cooling systems for engines) and suspension components (precision springs, stabilizer bars). Founded in Mantua in 1980, SOGEFI today supplies the most important car manufacturers worldwide and operates in 21 countries in five continents with 42 production plants. SOGEFI’s history includes numerous acquisitions, particularly in Europe and South America, the most recent of which was that of Mark IV Systèmes Moteurs (engine systems), completed at the end of July 2011. Sogefi’s revenues for 2013 were over 1.3 billion, all time high for the group.
KOS, which is controlled by CIR with Ardian (formerly AXA Private Equity) also having an interest, operates in the care-home sector. Established in 2003 with the name Holding Sanità e Servizi, KOS is active in the management of care homes (with the brand Anni Azzurri) and rehabilitation centres (S.Stefano). The company also supplies and manages diagnostic and therapeutic medical technology through its subsidiary Medipass. The KOS group is one of the main Italian operators in this field with 70 facilities under management in the centre and north of Italy. In 2011 the group launched a joint venture in India in the medical technology sector and in 2012 took over management of technologies in two important cancer hospitals in the United Kingdom. KOS employs some 4,100 people and has an annual turnover of approximately 370 million euro.
The CIR group is active in various investment initiatives such as the venture capital fund CIR Ventures, has a series of interests in the private equity sector and a portfolio of non-performing loans. In 2011 the CIR group acquired an interest of approximately 20% in the SEG group (Swiss Education Group), which is involved in training for the hospitality sector (hotels, catering etc.) with six facilities and over 5,000 students from all over the world.
CIR is also active in the energy sector through Sorgenia. The company, founded as a joint venture with the Austrian utility Verbund, has become one of Italy’s major operators and has been affected by the severe downturn in the economy, and in particular the energy sector. In 2014, as part of debt restructuring process, CIR and Verbund have transferred control of Sorgenia to the lending banks.
Principal Shareholdings
Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso S.p.A. (56%)
Sorgenia Holding S.p.A. (65%)
Sogefi S.p.A. (57.5%)
KOS S.p.A. (51.3%)
Board of Directors
The Board of Directors of CIR, appointed on June 30, 2014, consists of thirteen directors, eight of whom are independent. The current Board will remain in office until the approval of the Financial Statements for the year ended December 31, 2016. The Board has the following Directors:
Rodolfo De Benedetti, Executive Chairman
Monica Mondardini, Chief Executive Officer
Edoardo De Benedetti, Director
Marco De Benedetti, DIrector
Giampio Bracchi, Director
Franco Debenedetti, Director
Michael Pistauer, Director
Franco Girard, Director
Silvia Giannini, Director
Maristella Botticini, Director
Claudio Recchi, Director
Guido Tabellini, Director
Stefano Micossi, Director
who will remain in office until the approval of the Financial Statements for the year ended December 31, 2016.
Shareholders
COFIDE S.p.A. – 45.9%
Bestinver Gestion (an investment subsidiary of Acciona) - 11,3%
Norges Bank 2,7%