RCS MediaGroup

Overview

This profile considers RCS MediaGroup, formerly RCS Rizzoli.

It covers -

  • introduction
  • the group
  • structure
  • background
  • studies

Introduction

The RCS MediaGroup in Italy - established in 2003 through a restructure of Agnelli family interests - embraces newspapers, magazines, books and broadcasting in competition with Berlusconi and de Benedetti's L'Espresso group.

The group

The group centres on La Stampa and Corriere della Sera, two of the most influential papers in Italy. It includes book and magazine publishing units (notably Rizzoli in Italy and Flammarion in France) and has been expanding in Southern Europe, with for example a stake of around 50% in Spain's Unidad Editorial newspaper, broadcast and magazine group.

The group has minor book publishing and retailing interests in North America, an advertising arm and sports interests.

As RCS Rizzoli the group was broadly aligned with the Agnelli family - best known for the FIAT industrial conglomerate (cars, steel, insurance, tractors etc) - which indirectly controlled around half the equity.

Structure

An indication of RCS Rizzoli holdings is here.

Background

The Agnelli family's Giovanni Agnelli & C. holding company is believed to have a controlling stake in Istituto Finanziario Industriale (Ifi), which owns around 50% of Istituto Finanziaria di Partecipazioni (Ifil), around 20% of the FIAT auto group and substantial investments in insurance, sugar, chemicals, property, retail and other businesses. Ifil has a stake of around 12% in FIAT.

Ifi and Ifil appeared to control around 46% of Holding di Partecipazioni Industriali (HdP), which following a painful disposal of haute couture interests - notably the Valentino fashion house - primarily consisted of RCS Rizzoli and the Fila sportswear and sports shoe business.

The Flammarion publishing house in Paris and Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera dates from the 1870s. The Rizzoli publishing house was founded in the first years of last century, with the family gaining some fame as producers of films during the golden age of Italian cinema (eg La Dolce Vita).

Rizzoli acquired Corriere della Sera in 1974 and a decade later was absorbed by the Generale Mobiliare Interessenze Azionarie (Gemina) investment group, driven by the desire of Northern Italian industrial magnates such as the Agnellis to diversify out of metal bashing and present a less conspicuous target for nasties such as the Red Brigades.

Gemina's performance wasn't stunning and a decade later its publishing interests were spun off as HdP under the direction of erstwhile Agnelli protege Cesare Romiti.

HdP (Holding di Partecipazioni Industriali) was created in 1997 from a partial spin-off of Gemina's industrial activities. HdP acquired 100% of the RCS publishing group and controlling interests in fashion group GFT NET and sportswear company Fila. HdP divested most of its stakes in GFT NET and Fila before rebadging itself as RCS MediaGroup in 2003, going on to buy out the minority shareholders in most of its media subsidiaries (eg joint ventures with German publisher Burda).

Studies

There is no major English-language study of La Stampa, Rizzoli or the Corriera.

Perspectives are offered by Giovanni Bechelloni's 'The Journalist as Political Client in Italy' in Newspapers & Democracy (Cambridge: MIT Press 1980) edited by Anthony Smith, Gianpietro's 'Media Moguls in Italy' in Media Moguls (London: Routledge 1991) edited by Jeremy Tunstall and Political Clientalism & the Media: Southern Europe & Latin America in Comparative Perspective (PDF) by Daniel Hallin & Stylianos Papathanassopoulos. The superb Italy and Its Discontents: Family, Civil Society, State 1980-2000 (London: Allen Lane 2001) by Paul Ginsborg is also of value.

Most of the very extensive literature on the Agnellis and FIAT is in Italian. Insights into Italian high finance are offered by Alan Friedman's Agnelli and the Network of Italian Power (London: Harrap 1988).

Dan Briody's The Iron Triangle: Inside the Secret World of the Carlyle Group (New York: Wiley 2003) offers a journalistic and at times conspiracist account of RCS's US partner.