Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio debuts in the film industry, production of titles and TV series. It does so by starting from one of the most valuable pieces of the Italian film industry, acquiring 13.78% of Leone Film group through his family office, the Lmdv Capital. It is his first investment in an Italian audiovisual company which also brings with it titles such as The Post, The Lions of Wall Street, La La Land, The Crazy Joyto name a few. Founded by Sergio Leone in 1989, it was listed on the European Growth Milan in 2013. The shareholders are the director’s children, Andrea (president and CEO) and Raffaella (co-CEO) who are now leaving room – but will remain in the majority – for the fourth son of Leonardo Del Vecchio, founder of EssilorLuxottica who is continuing with his investments to support the growth of Italian companies and bring them to the world, also alongside the families of national industrialists in a sort of large alliance to promote Made in Italy in the world.
I film cult
The company also owns the large portfolio of cult films that saw Sergio Leone behind the camera: The Good, the Ugly and the Ugly, Once upon a time in America, down the head e For a Few Dollars More.
«The objective of the agreement – underlines Del Vecchio – in full harmony with our corporate philosophy, is to support the strengthening of Italian excellence by promoting the success of Made in Italy on the main international markets. We are convinced that we can actively contribute to the continuous development of an important reality like Leone Film Group by offering our contribution to the development of a strategic industry for the economy, image and creative wealth of our country.”
Andrea and Raffaella Leone
Following the reorganization, Andrea and Raffaella Leone will remain with approximately 50.3% of the capital, a share that they will split equally, after having sold 4% each to Lmdv Capital. The director and screenwriter Paolo Genovese is selling his entire stake, equal to 2.98%. Banca Mediolanum is also selling shares, equal to 1.65% of Leone Film Group. While Maite Carpio Bulgari, a director, entrepreneur and philanthropist of Spanish origin and wife of Paolo Bulgari, will remain with 10.56%, as will Francesco Brioschi (5.13%), professor emeritus of finance and corporate governance at the Politecnico di Milano. A free float of 19.45% remains on the market and Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio, with the support of the advisor Mediobanca, becomes the second largest shareholder after the Leone family. “The partnership with Lmdv Capital marks a new step forward for the group – adds Andrea Leone – which accelerates the common objective of consolidation and growth in such a fundamental sector”.
Distribution and production
In addition to distribution and production, which is growing after the 2014 purchase of Lotus production, Leone Film group manages a collection of around 600 titles, among which all the films of the historic director stand out for the Italian market and, in many cases, for the international one together with numerous blockbusters. In recent years, the company has also opened up to the series market, producing its first television series entitled “Immaturi” in 2016, thus officially entering a profitable and growing sector. After having produced titles of the caliber of Perfect strangers, The crazy joy, Everyone’s fine at homethe Serie The Lions of Sicily, Another Ferragosto by Paolo Virzì, many new stories are currently in progress including Until the end by Gabriele Muccino, UonderboisTV series directed by Andrea De Sica and Giorgio Romano for Disney+ and The days of abandonmenta work based on the novel of the same name by Elena Ferrante with protagonist Penelope Cruz.
