Roberto Colaninno attends the celebrations for the 50th anniversary of the Vespa Primavera scooter at the Piaggio Museum in Pontedera, Italy, April 19, 2018.
REUTERS/ Alessandro Bianchi/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsROME, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Entrepreneur Roberto Colaninno, chairman and CEO of scooter maker Piaggio and one of Italy's best-known dealmakers, has died, his investment company IMMSI said on Saturday.
He is most famous for his surprise $58 billion leveraged buyout of Telecom Italia (TLIT.MI) in 1999, at the time the world's largest hostile takeover.
In 2003, after his efforts to take over carmaker Fiat were rebuffed, he turned his attention to Piaggio, maker of the Vespa scooter, which had fallen on hard times.
Colaninno ditched the firm's loss-making computer unit and focused on the telephone business - which he subsequently used as a vehicle to launch the Telecom Italia bid.
Persons:
Roberto Colaninno, Alessandro Bianchi, IMMSI, Colaninno, Carlo De Benedetti, De Benedetti, Olivetti, Matteo, Michele, Oretta, Crispian Balmer, David Holmes
Organizations:
Primavera, Piaggio Museum, REUTERS, Rights, Piaggio, Telecom Italia, Pirelli, Fiat, Alitalia, Thomson
Locations:
Pontedera, Italy, Asia, India, China, Vietnam, Fiamm, Europe