Italian CEOs Court Rouhani Over Dinner for Billion-Dollar Deals

  26 January 2016    Read: 1057
Italian CEOs Court Rouhani Over Dinner for Billion-Dollar Deals
Italy
Eni Chief Executive Officer Claudio Descalzi and Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne are among executives scheduled to attend the dinner after Rouhani meets with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi at 7 p.m., according to an Italian official who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public. Before the dinner at the Terrazza Caffarelli with a sweeping view of the Eternal City, Renzi will take the Iranian President on a guided tour of the Capitoline Museums.

Deals valued at about 17 billion euros ($18.4 billion) with Italy will be signed during Rouhani’s visit, including a 5 billion-euro accord for Saipem SpA and a 2 billion-euro agreement for Danieli & C. Officine Meccaniche, said the official. Other companies making deals today include Gavio SpA and Fincantieri SpA, he said. A spokesman at Italy’s Industry Ministry declined to comment when asked about the accords.

Eni could start doing business again in Iran this year, Descalzi told reporters in December. Italy’s biggest oil producer is among energy companies that have expressed interest in returning to Iran after sanctions are lifted.

Marchionne sees opportunities for Fiat in the Iranian market once the situation gets stabilized, he said in November. The Italian-American carmaker is holding talks to build light-commercial vehicles and buses in the country, state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reported Nov. 29, citing Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh, Iran’s minister for industry, mines and trade.

Fiat signed in 2005 a preliminary agreement with Pars Industrial Development Foundation Co. to build cars in the country, though the accord never got off the ground. Fiat stopped selling vehicles in Iran in 2012.

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