By Giuseppe Fonte, Giulio Piovaccari and Elvira Pollina
ROME (Reuters) -China's Sinochem is open to bids for its Pirelli stake - if the offer comes with a premium - after Italy's government said this week that the Chinese group was not breaching rules meant to protect the tyre maker's autonomy, sources close to the matter told Reuters.
A possible move would be part of Rome's efforts aimed at ending a governance dispute that has weighed on Pirelli in recent years, with Sinochem, Pirelli's largest shareholder,
at odds with fellow investor, Italy's Camfin.
Pirelli and Camfin have complained that having a Chinese group as its main shareholder was hindering the tyre maker's U.S. expansion plans, as Washington tightens restrictions on Chinese technology in the automotive sector.
Camfin is the vehicle of Marco Tronchetti Provera, an Italian businessman who has led Pirelli since 1992 and is now its executive vice-chairman. It holds a 27.4% stake.
On Monday, the Italian government offered Sinochem an olive branch, ruling the group did not breach special "golden power" measures it imposed in 2023 to protect the independence of a company seen as being of strategic importance.
The government was maintaining a "constant and constructive dialogue" with the company and its shareholders, to adapt "its instruments to the new regulatory requirements of its reference markets in a timely manner and ensuring its full competitiveness in all the areas in which it operates," the government said in a statement.
After Sinochem and Camfin failed for over a year to find an accommodation, the Chinese group was now ready to focus its efforts on talks with the government and work with it to explore arrangements in the interest of Pirelli, including a sale of its 37% stake, one of the sources added.
The source said Sinochem, despite seeing itself as a long-term investor, would assess the market premium offered by potential bidders. But several other options, not necessarily involving a full stake sale, could be worked out, the source added.
Pirelli is now informally working with banking advisers over a potential deal which would see Sinochem reducing its stake, one of the sources and a third person said.
The process is still at an initial stage, and it could take time before there is any concrete development.
Pirelli and Sinochem declined to comment.
Selling its full shareholding in Pirelli would not be an easy task for Sinochem, banking sources have told Reuters, with industrial investors possibly reluctant to put money into a company which is led by its local shareholder.
The government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni intervened two years ago to limit the Chinese influence at Pirelli and protect the autonomy of its management, through the so-called golden power rules aimed at protecting strategic assets.
As part of that ruling, Pirelli's Italian shareholder has the right to appoint the group's top management and to steer its wider strategic choices.
(Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte in Rome and Giulio Piovaccari in Milan; additional reporting by Elvira Pollina in Milan; writing by Giulio PiovaccariEditing by Keith Weir)
