MILAN — The Agnelli family’s holding company Exor N.V. has sold Italian media company Gedi Gruppo Editoriale SpA, parent of daily newspaper La Repubblica, among other titles.
On Monday, K Group — the Kyriakou family-owned parent company of international media, content and entertainment organization Antenna Group — said it acquired 100 percent of the company, including, in addition to La Repubblica, the likes of HuffPost Italia, National Geographic Italia and Limes; the radio brands Radio Deejay, Radio Capital and m2o, and the advertising agency Manzoni.
The transaction doesn’t include the La Stampa title, which has been agreed to be sold to the SAE Group, together with its printing center and commercial network for local advertising sales. Simultaneously there’s an agreement to dispose of Stardust, excluding it from the scope of the acquisition.
The operation is part of Exor’s bigger plan of simplifying its portfolio, which includes investments in companies ranging from Ferrari and Stellantis to Philips and Italy’s soccer team Juventus Football Club, passing through The Economist Group and luxury players such as Christian Louboutin and Hermès International’s China project Shang Xia.
In releasing its 2025 financial results on Monday, which saw Exor reporting 37.1 billion euros in gross asset value at the end of the year, the company’s ceo John Elkann said “[we’re] sharpening our priorities and concentrating on larger companies, where we believe Exor can create the greatest value.”
“We have signed agreements to divest our stakes in Iveco Group, Gedi, Lifenet and Nuo. These four transactions are expected to generate 2 billion euros in proceeds this year, with a total multiple of more than 1.4x on our invested capital,” Elkann said. “As a result, we are increasing our cash available for deployment to more than 3.5 billion euros, which also places us in a strong position to pursue a significant new investment similar in scale and ambition to Philips,” he said.
In particular, Nuo is a company Exor created in 2021 in partnership with The World-Wide Investment Company Ltd. of the Hong Kong Pao family, with the goal to invest in and support the global development of medium-sized Italian companies specializing in consumer goods. Nuo’s investments range from the Ludovico Martelli company — known for its storied personal care brands such as Marvis and Proraso — to the Subdued brand, among others.
Proraso products.
Courtesy Photo
As for Gedi, Exor has been one of its shareholders since 2017, first with a 5.99 percent interest in the company. As reported, in 2019 Cir Compagnie Industriali Riunite SpA, the holding company controlled by the De Benedetti family, agreed to sell a 43.78 percent controlling stake in Gedi to Exor N.V. for 102.4 million euros, or 0.46 euros a share.
Following the completion of Exor’s new transaction with K Group, Mirja Cartia d’Asero will become chief executive officer of Gedi Group. An experienced executive with a track record in leading media and finance organizations, she’s currently president of Clessidra Holding and Clessidra Private Equity sgr and has served as CEO and general director of Italy’s daily newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore from 2022 to 2025.
Mario Orfeo will remain editor in chief of La Repubblica, ensuring editorial and leadership continuity.
In particular, Antenna Group said it plans to invest significantly in extending La Repubblica’s reach internationally, as well as expanding Gedi’s radio business to create an important Mediterranean radio network hub and investing in news documentary production, streaming, podcasts, music production and publishing, education and cinema.
In a company statement issued on Monday, Antenna Group also said it’s “currently in discussions with strategic partners in the U.S. to add additional news and entertainment brands that compliment Gedi’s portfolio” and it will seek to “partner with other local Italian groups and entrepreneurs on its Italian growth strategy.”
Founded in 1988, Antenna Group operates 37 free-to-air and pay TV channels, two streaming platforms and a broad portfolio of businesses across Europe, North America and Australia, reaching up to 500 million people worldwide through its own platforms and partnerships.
