Parmalat
Parent Lactalis | | |
Website | parmalat.it |
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Parmalat S.p.A. is an Italian dairy and food corporation which is a subsidiary of French multinational company Lactalis. It was founded by Calisto Tanzi in 1961.
Having become the leading global company in the production of long-life milk using ultra-high-temperature processing, the company collapsed in 2003 with a €14bn ($20bn; £13bn) hole in its accounts in what remains Europe's biggest bankruptcy.[3] Since 2011, it has been a subsidiary of French group Lactalis (with fuller control since 2019). Today, Parmalat is a company with a global presence, having operations in Europe, North America, South America, Australia, China, and South Africa.
Still specializing in UHT milk and milk derivatives (varieties of
Early history (1961–2002)
In 1961,
In the early 1980s, Parmalat was the title sponsor of the
Financial fraud (2002–2005)
In 1997, Parmalat expanded into financial markets, financing several international acquisitions, especially in the Western Hemisphere, with debt. But by 2001, many of the new divisions were producing losses, and the company financing shifted largely to the use of
The plan for a €300 million fundraising effort was dropped in September 2003, and the company's shares depreciated significantly as a result of the publicised concerns raised over transactions with mutual fund Epicurum, a Cayman-based company linked to Parmalat by November. Ferraris resigned less than a week after the public fall-out and was replaced by Del Soldato. Del Soldato resigned the next month, unable to get cash from Epicurum fund, needed to pay debts and make bond payments totalling at least €150 million. Bonlat was a subsidiary of Parmalat set up in the Cayman Islands. Bonlat's bank, Bank of America, then released a document showing €3.95 billion in Parmalat's bank account as a forgery. Tanzi resigned as chairman and CEO. Hundreds of thousands of investors lost their money and would never recover it.
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi changed bankruptcy laws by decree to allow a company to seek accelerated protection from creditors, by giving extraordinary powers to a government-appointment administrator (commissario). Enrico Bondi was named commissario.[5]
Calisto Tanzi was detained hours after the firm was declared officially insolvent in late December and admitted that there was a hole of €8 billion in Parmalat's accounts, but denied any cover-up. The arrest of five other executives followed. The auditors of the administration eventually determined that the debts amounted to €14.3 billion, which was almost eight times the sum originally stated. Several of the company's subsidiaries subsequently went insolvent, including its Brazilian, Argentinian and American operations and its
Tanzi was eventually charged with financial fraud and
In 2007, Deloitte settled on paying $149M to Parmalat.[7][6] Bank of America, Parmalat's bank in many Special-purpose entities, settled for $100M payment to Parmalat in 2009. Grant Thornton International, Parmalat's auditing company, settled after repeated lawsuits for $4.4M with Parmalat.[8] The new management at Parmalat recovered about $700M in payments from the banks and auditing firms it sued for negligence and aiding in the fraud of former Parmalat leadership.[6]
Modern history
In 2005,
By 2011, Parmalat had grown cash to €1.5 billion.
In 2015, revenues reached €6.42 billion and
Lactalis moved all strategic activities to France and gradually wound down operations in Italy.[11] In 2019, the future of the historical factory in Rome was also in doubt.[1]
Countries of operation
Countries of direct presence
- Australia
- Bolivia
- Botswana
- Canada
- Colombia
- Cuba
- Ecuador
- Eswatini
- Hong Kong[18]
- Italy
- Mexico
- Mozambique
- New Zealand
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Portugal
- Romania
- Russia
- South Africa
- Venezuela
- Zambia
Countries of presence through license
- Argentina
- Brazil
- Chile
- China
- Costa Rica
- Dominican Republic
- El Salvador
- Guatemala
- Haiti
- Honduras
- Hungary
- Mexico
- Nicaragua
- United States
- Uruguay
See also
- List of Italian companies
- Gianmario Roveraro
References
- ^ a b c "Parmalat: sindacati, ad Bernier ha confermato centralita' attivita' in Italia". Radiocor. 8 February 2019.
- ^ a b c d "Annual Report 2015" (PDF). Parmalat. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 July 2018. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
- ^ a b "Italian dairy boss gets 10 years". BBC News. 18 December 2008. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
- ^ Gumbel, Peter (21 November 2004). "How It All Went So Sour". Time.
- ^ "Parmalat files for bankruptcy". The Guardian. 24 December 2003.
- ^ a b c Michaels, Adrian (12 January 2007). "Deloitte to settle Parmalat lawsuit". Financial Times. London. Archived from the original on 10 December 2022. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
- ^ "UPDATE 2-BofA to pay Parmalat $100 mln to settle lawsuit". Reuters. 28 July 2009. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
- ^ "Parmalat Settlement with Grant Thornton" (PDF). 30 October 2015.
- ^ "L'imprenditore Vicenzi primo cittadino onorario". L'Arena (in Italian). 16 July 2015.
- ^ Alessandro Oliva (20 March 2015). "I crack di Parma, la cittadina che sogna la grandeur" (in Italian).
- ^ a b "Parmalat, epilogo brutale". Sole 24 ore (in Italian). 23 January 2019.
- ^ Ian Simpson (8 July 2011). "Lactalis secures 83 percent of Parmalat after buyout". Reuters.
- ^ Agnieszka Flak (27 December 2016). "Lactalis launches buyout bid to delist Parmalat". Reuters.
- ^ SIlvia Aloisi (9 March 2017). "Lactalis ups Parmalat bid price after pressure from investors". Reuters.
- ^ Filippetti, Simone (24 January 2019). "Parmalat, dopo l'addio alla Borsa Lactalis adesso smonta il gruppo". Il Sole 24 ORE (in Italian). Retrieved 19 January 2023.
- ^ "Parmalat: Lactalis prepara delisting: In Borsa scambiato quasi il 7%, attenzione a mosse dei francesi". ANSA (in Italian). 3 December 2018.
- ^ Simone Filippetti (3 December 2018). "Parmalat dice addio a Piazza Affari: finisce la guerra del latte".
- ^ "Investments in Associates of the Parmalat Group" (PDF). Investments in Associates of the Parmalat Group. Parmalat Group. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
External links
- Official website
- BBC "Parmalat in Bankruptcy Protection" 24 December 2003
- Parmalat dream goes sour; The Observer; 4 January 2004
- There is Something about Parmalat (On Directors and Gatekeepers); Simone di Castri and Francesco Benedetto on ssrn.com.