Campari insists it is unaffected by the tax dispute between the Italian government and its controlling shareholder after a court ordered to shares in the spirits giant to be seized.
Lagfin, which controls 80% of Campari’s voting rights, has had €1.3bn ($1.49bn) worth of shares seized by Italian authorities, which are accusing the Luxembourg-based group of tax evasion.
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Italy’s financial police Guardia di Finanzia said on Saturday it had carried out a “precautionary seizure order”, on behalf of the Monza court, of €1.29bn of shares “against a Luxembourg-based holding company”.
It claims capital gains worth more than €5.3bn were not declared after Lagfin absorbed its Italian subsidiary “and were not taxed upon their exit from the country, as required by tax law”.
In a statement issued on Friday (31 October), Campari said: “In relation to articles published by the media, Campari Group clarifies that the tax litigation between Lagfin and the Italian tax authorities does not concern either Davide Campari-Milano or any of its subsidiaries.
“Therefore, no impact whatsoever is expected for Davide Campari-Milano nor for any of its subsidiaries.”
Just Drinks asked Campari for its thoughts on whether the situation could affect its corporate reputation and it pointed this publication to its statement.
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By GlobalDataIn a separate statement, Lagfin said the issue concerns a “tax dispute” that began around two years ago, which “has never involved Campari Group in any manner whatsoever”.
The group stressed: “Lagfin trusts that it has always acted in the most scrupulous respect of any applicable laws and regulations, including any Italian tax laws, and therefore it will defend itself vigorously and serenely in all competent forums.”
Lagfin added it does not expect the seizure of the shares to have any impact on its controlling stake in Campari.
Shares in the Aperol and Courvoisier producer were down 3.54% at 10:48 GMT today.
In July last year, reports emerged that claimed prosecutors in Milan had opened an investigation into Lagfin.
Unnamed “sourced with direct knowledge of the matter” told Reuters at the time that tax officials uncovered around €1bn of unpaid taxes from 2018 to 2020 owed by the group.
