PRESS RELEASES
Il Giornale del Popolo, September 13, 2008
Crédit des Alpes: «Business with the Russians but not only in Russia»
The Russian giant Severstal Metiz has acquired the Gardone Valtrompia factory of Redaelli Tecna, leader in the production of steel ropes (ex Lucchini group). The seller was Crédit des Alpes, with offices in Geneva and Lugano, controlled by the Italian-Swiss financier the Fabrizio Cerina. The Cerina group had acquired the Redaelli Tecna in 2000 and sold it last August. The Russians are very active in commodities where they basically do as they like. ''This is why,'' says Fabrizio Cerina (picture) ''after careful consideration, I came to the conclusion that it is better to do business with them rather than come off worst in an unequal struggle. Anyhow, our investment wasn't a short-term speculation and these eight years in the industrial sector were no small outcome,'' says Cerina. On the other front, Crédit des Alpes is specialising in Private Equity operations. Again Fabrizio Cerina, together with the Cipriani group as the leading shareholder, has wrapped up one of the largest property deals ($250m) on the American market by selling the Saxony Hotel of South Beach, Miami. Thanks to the hike in raw material prices and although the Russian market has been suffering recently as a result of the conflict with Georgia, the Russian tycoons are nonetheless among those with the most ready money and capital resources, confides Cerina, a fact that is also confirmed by their many acquisitions on the Swiss property market.
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