The rise of the shareholding state in Italy: A policy-oriented strategist or simply a shareholder? Evidence from the energy and banking sectors' privatizations

The shareholding state in Italy emerges following the partial privatizations of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) in the 1990s. As today, it is still debated whether the Italian state is using its controlling stakes in former SOEs to pursue policy objectives, or if it is acting passively as other financial shareholders. The limited contributions in this field of study find that states retaining a minority stake are unlikely to influence corporate strategies, while the opposite occurs when a majority stake is held. This paper sug-gests that minority stakes may also serve state interests even if the company's statute does not envisage the state to play an active role. The issue is explored through a case study of the partial privatizations of CDP, in which the state retains a majority stake, and Eni, in which the state retains a minority (al-beit predominant) stake, and that operate respectively in the banking and energy sectors. Their different level of financialization unveils the diversified strategies adopted by the Italian state to preserve national interests. (c) 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.