Italy’s defence and shipbuilding sectors were briefly thrust back into the spotlight this week after a senior figure at Leonardo suggested that closer ties with Fincantieri could eventually extend as far as a corporate merger. (Reuters)
The comment was made by Leonardo chairman Stefano Pontecorvo during a public appearance at Bocconi University in Milan. Addressing the audience, and in particular Fincantieri executive vice-president for operations Claudio Cisilino, Pontecorvo said he would welcome the possibility of the two state-controlled groups combining at some point in the future. He did not indicate that any talks were under way or outline how such a transaction might be structured.
Leonardo and Fincantieri are both majority-owned by the Italian government and already work together on several defence-related initiatives. Despite this cooperation, efforts in the past to move towards a more integrated industrial relationship have repeatedly failed to materialise. Those discussions have typically run aground on political considerations and differences in strategic focus between the aerospace and electronics specialist and the shipbuilding group.
The timing of Pontecorvo’s remarks is notable, as Fincantieri is pursuing a strategy aimed at strengthening its defence activities. In its latest multi-year business plan, the company identified defence as a priority area for expansion, signalling a desire to rebalance its portfolio beyond its traditional strengths in naval and cruise ship construction.
Although framed as a long-term aspiration rather than a proposal, the chairman’s statement highlights a recurring theme in Italy’s industrial policy: whether the country’s state-owned defence assets should remain loosely coordinated or be brought together more formally to compete on a global scale. Any move in that direction would face significant political and operational challenges, making a merger, for now, a distant prospect rather than an imminent development.