(Updates share moves, adds trader and analyst comments)
** Shares in Italian tyre maker Pirelli PIRC.MI fall as
much as 4.7% to an eight-month low after premium brakes maker
Brembo BRBI.MI sells its entire stake of 5.58% in the group
** Brembo completed the sale on Wednesday through
accelerated book building for 5.07 euros ($5.61) per share, a 5%
discount from Tuesday's closing price of 5.34 euros
** Brembo had built its stake in Pirelli from 2020, feeding
speculation about a merger of the two groups
** It has now abandoned the long-term project due to several
reasons, a Milan-based trader says
** Pirelli's investor Camfin said on Wednesday it bought an
additional 2.5% in the group, without disclosing the price
** "We would not be surprised to find that Camfin may have
bought some of the shares sold by Brembo," Equita says, adding
it is "obvious" that majority shareholder Sinochem 600500.SS
will also divest
** MTP, the investment company of Executive Vice Chairman
Marco Tronchetti Provera which operates through Camfin,
increased its total stake to 25.28% and approved a further stake
acquisition for up to a total 29.9%
** By 0851, Pirelli is down 3.3% while Brembo is up 3.4%
** Equita says the divestment will reduce Brembo's debt and
backtrack on an investment which was "never clearly explained",
also removing perceived risk linked to a potential merger
($1 = 0.9038 euros)
(Reporting by Alessandro Parodi and Andrea Mandalà)