This article was originally published in Italian on Previdenzaagricola.it

Every country is in fact a brand, encapsulating its way of life, its history, its cultural roots. In this sense, Italy’s vocation for manufacturing and craftsmanship is so appreciated that Made in Italy is considered one of the most important and most recognised brands globally. According to the Best Countries Report 2021, Italy ranks 1st in terms of cultural influence and 2nd in terms of tourist attractiveness and artistic prestige.

According to Kantar Group, Italy’s 30 most prestigious brands in 2020 reached a combined value of approximately $114.6 billion, or about 5% of the national GDP. Since 2018, the Top 30 has grown in value by 34%. The main Italian brands are perceived globally as a guarantee of quality, authenticity and style (e.g. Ferrari, Ferrero, Gucci): these are companies driven by a strong entrepreneurial spirit and characterised by innovation, internationalisation and a focus on the costumer experience. However, these brands refer to a small group of large, agile companies operating in different supply chains, flanked by a dense network of small/medium-sized companies. What penalises Italy is the data on economic attractiveness, the quality of services and the ease of doing business: the country is recognised as having shortcomings in terms of bureaucracy, the tax system, corruption, the labour market, economic inequality and innovation.

A further factor of uniqueness, at the same time strength and weakness, of the Italian production fabric is represented by the many small family-run companies, which, despite being the driving force of the national production system, due to their small size struggle to make the dimensional leap that would allow them to operate on a large scale and compete in the global market. In this context, private equity, understood as a true business partner, plays a central role in supporting domestic entrepreneurship and Made in Italy. Over the years, Tendercapital has flanked several entrepreneurial realities, supporting their growth without losing sight of the return objective.

One example of such initiatives is Primat S.p.A., a company based in Olginate (LC) that operates in the sector of anticorrosive coatings for fasteners and small metal parts. The company is part of the value chain of components for the automotive segment and plays a key role in the supply chain thanks to its high production and logistics efficiency and reliability. The sector in which Primat operates is a niche of excellence with only two main players and high barriers to entry dictated by high product quality requirements and specific licences. The aim is to create a European cluster through new acquisitions, currently under evaluation in Spain, Germany and France.

The second example is in the luxury sector and in particular in the « personal luxury goods » segment, which globally recorded aggregate revenues of $283 billion in 2021 with a CAGR 2017 – 2021 of 1.8%, heavily penalised in the last year due to the pandemic. Italy hosts the largest number of Luxury companies (26) included in the Top100 by turnover. Furthermore, Italy is home to 46% of companies operating in the luxury clothing/footwear sector and 56% in the luxury handbags and accessories sector. The protection and growth of Made in Italy in this sector is therefore extremely strategic for the country.

Tendercapital has taken an initiative in this market with Renato Corti S.p.A, a leading luxury leather goods company based in Milan. The company develops all types of products (bags etc.) and major international brands entrust it with the creation of collections and their B2B distribution. The strengths of Renato Corti SpA are its team, which embodies unique skills and in-depth knowledge of production processes, and the availability of modern, constantly updated technologies. Elements that make the company capable of combining high quality and high production rates.

But not only the manufacturing sector represents the excellence of Made In Italy: Italy is a reference point in the cultural industry and in particular in the film sector. In pre-pandemic times, cinema generated a turnover of € 4 billion per year with over 250,000 people employed. Despite the pandemic, Italian cinema has grown a great deal in recent years in terms of quality and international resonance, and the available tax instruments (e.g. tax credit) are a driving force for the development of partnerships and the attraction of foreign investment. Tendercapital has always supported artistic and film productions, with the conviction that art contributes fundamentally to human growth and is a key success factor for the Italian economic system.