Shares in Campari fell sharply on Monday morning, after Italian tax police seized €1.3bn (£1.1bn) worth of shares in the business over alleged tax evasion at its parent company.
Officials have ordered the confiscation of shares in Campari Group owned by Luxembourg-based Lagfin as part of a year-long investigation into the merger that led Lagfin to absorb its Italian subsidiary.
Prosecutors launched a probe last year over accusations that Lagfin failed to pay taxes amounting to a similar figure to those seized last week. Financial police said on Friday they had found undeclared capital gains between 2018 and 2020 on which Lagfin had not paid a so-called “exit tax” – levied on firms that transfer their headquarters abroad.
Lagfin – which owns more than 50% of Campari shares and has 80% of voting rights – insisted it had acted according to tax laws.
The matter was “connected to a tax dispute that started approximately two years ago and has never involved Campari Group whatsoever”, it said in a statement.
Campari, meanwhile, said the tax litigation did not concern it or any of its subsidiaries.
The Aperol Spritz and Courvoisier brand owner added it expected “no impact whatsoever” from the case on its business.
Shares in Campari fell by as much as 6% in early trading in Milan on Monday, however.
It comes after Campari last week reported a 4.4% increase in sales in the three months to the end of September.
Adjusted earnings, meanwhile, climbed by 18.8% and well ahead of analysts’ forecasts.
No comments yet