Of
Francesco Bertolino
Between 2013 and 2023 over 120 companies said goodbye to the Milan stock exchange. But amid difficulties in private equity and successions, prices can now restart: «About 300 billion will pass through inheritance by 2033
In New York they anxiously await the landing of SpaceX, OpenAI, Anthropic and other technological marvels which will add trillions to Wall Street capitalization. The Leopard tanks of the Franco-German alliance Knds and the ammunition of the Czech group Csg Group will parade on European squares, ready to ride the wave of rearmament to gain a valuation of between 20 and 30 billion on the stock market. Will 2026 be a year of high prices in Italy too?
The 2025 budget
Despite the record prices, 2025 was as lean as ever for Piazza Affari which recorded “zero” for blue chip prices on the main market. The 20 initial public offerings (IPOs) in Milan were all on the EGM market dedicated to small and medium-sized businesses (a number to which is added the direct listing of Haiki+). There were 29 delistings, farewells to the stock exchange, in 202511 of which involved companies traded on the main market.
The delisting boom
According to Intermonte’s calculations, the capitalization balance between entries and exits from the Italian Stock Exchange was negative by around 2 billion. The trend has been underway for some time, not only in Italy: in the last three years there have been 78 delistings from Milan and between 2013 and 2023, Assonime estimates, 97 groups have bid farewell to the main market, taking with them over 100 billion in capitalisation. With the other 30 farewells concluded between 2024 and 2025, the total delistings from the lists of the large companies on Piazza Affari thus rises to 127 in 13 years.
Who could go public
Although dating back, the trend is not irreversible. Unless the French state changes course, for example, The big energy company Edison is expected to land in Milan in 2026 and, according to market estimates, it could be worth between 7 and 10 billion. The Maire group then said that it was ready to promote the division specialized in the Nextchem energy transition on the stock market, while specifying that it was “in no hurry”. Finally, the dossier of an early listing of Fibercop is circulating among investment banks — the company of the ex-TIM network bought by the KKR fund for 18.8 billion — but the hypothesis does not seem to have found favor with the shareholders. 2026 could then be the year of the privatization of the State Mint by the Treasury.
The charge of SMEs
For large companies, after all, it is always difficult to find the right combination of timing, evaluation and governance. The exercise is simpler for SMEs, several of which are looking at the stock market. «Italy’s risk premium has fallen and, if at first the large listed companies especially benefited from it, now the interest of investors is focusing on SMEs», says Guglielmo Manetti, CEO of Intermonte. «This year, for the first time since 2021, Italian small-cap companies have fared better than blue chips – he adds – the valuation gap is still above 50% but we are optimistic that it can be shortened.” Attracting other entrepreneurs to the stock exchange.
The generational transition
«We have several open dossiers of companies that are considering a listing – says Manetti – and in the coming years a push towards the stock exchange could come from generational transitions: it is estimated that in Italy around 180 billion will pass through inheritance by 2028 and 300 billion by 2033″. This is the favorite hunting ground of the investment funds that many companies have stolen from the stock market in recent years. Just think of the case of Golden Goose which, after giving up on the IPO a few hours after the bell rang, then ended up in the hands of the Chinese Hongshan.
The sale to funds
However, Manetti is convinced that, thanks to the difficulty of private equity, the stock market will represent a more attractive alternative for entrepreneurs (and for the funds themselves) in the coming months. «The entrepreneur who sells his company to a private equity fund makes an irreversible decision for future generations – he concludes – the listing instead offers an additional option to the heirs who can choose whether to continue to control the family business or to liquidate their shareholdings on the stock market».
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December 30, 2025 (changed December 30, 2025 | 09:38)
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