The Milanese tire company Pirelli has announced that its largest shareholder, the Chinese state-owned company Sinochem, has filed an appeal with the Lazio Regional Administrative Court to request the annulment of the government decree from last April.
WHAT THE GOVERNMENT DECREE ON PIRELLI FROM APRIL PROVIDES, IN BRIEF
The decree in question establishes, based on the golden power, a series of limitations on Sinochem’s influence over Pirelli: although owning 34.1 percent of the company, Sinochem will be able to appoint only three directors to the board of directors; none of these, moreover, may have mandates or powers that allow them to participate in financial, industrial, or strategic decisions. The restrictions will remain in effect until Sinochem reduces its stake below 10 percent.
The second largest shareholder of Pirelli is Vice President Marco Tronchetti Provera, who through the holding companies Camfin and Mtp Spa owns 26.2 percent.
DOUBLE APPEAL TO THE REGIONAL ADMINISTRATIVE COURT
The appeals to the Lazio court (Tar, in jargon) were notified on June 7 and are actually two, but identical in content: one was filed by China National Tire & Rubber Corporation (Cnrc), a division of Sinochem, while the other by the vehicle Marco Polo International. Both are directed against the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, the Ministry of Enterprises, and other ministries.
PIRELLI’S COMMENT
In the press release issued today, Pirelli specified that these appeals “do not affect the regular conduct of the shareholders’ meeting scheduled for June 25, 2026, which has on the agenda, among other things, the renewal of the Board of Directors based on the lists presented by the shareholders in compliance with the Golden Power Dpcm, already communicated to the market.”
WHY DID THE GOVERNMENT INTERVENE ON PIRELLI?
The government intervened on Pirelli – several times, moreover – with the golden power, that is, the set of special powers that allow the executive to protect assets of strategic value for the country. Pirelli’s “strategic” nature is mainly linked to the Cyber Tyre, tires equipped with sensors capable of collecting data and “communicating” in real time both with the car’s onboard systems and with smart road infrastructures.
In addition to the restrictions on Sinochem, the April decree also imposes requirements on Pirelli, which must not share sensitive information about research and development activities, intellectual property, and technological know-how. It must also prohibit access to management-administrative information systems and prevent the transfer of goods and services – as well as data obtained from Cyber Tyre – to non-European infrastructures or those linked to the Chinese government, among other things.
THE CYBER TYRE IN THE UNITED STATES
Meanwhile, Pirelli is trying to avoid the banning of its products in the United States, a hugely important market for the company as it accounts for roughly one-fifth of revenues. The Americans, in fact, have banned the sale of Chinese technologies for “connected vehicles” for security reasons: this regulation directly affects Pirelli because – as mentioned – its main shareholder is a Chinese state-owned company.
In May, the company announced that it had started production of Cyber Tyre in the United States: more precisely at the plant in Rome, Georgia.
