La Repubblica, the historic newspaper of the Gedi group (owned by the Agnelli family’s Exor), is reportedly very close to passing into the control of the Kyriakou family group, according to Italian media reports.
Rumors circulating since last Thursday indicate that financial and legal due diligence has already been completed and that discussions are now in their final stage, with an official announcement expected within the coming days.
The Agnelli family’s Exor is seeking to exit the media sector. The newspaper’s acquisition by John Elkann in 2020 cost €220 million, while today its book value has dropped to €72 million, making the transfer difficult but inevitable.
It cannot be ruled out, although not officially confirmed, that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is supporting the deal.
La Repubblica: Into the hands of the Kyriakou family, just before its 50th anniversary
The agreement, expected to be completed within the last weeks of December, comes just months before the newspaper’s fiftieth anniversary.
This will mark the end of one of the most revolutionary publishing journeys of the Italian twentieth century: founded in 1976 by Eugenio Scalfari and Carlo Caracciolo, directed in the 2000s by Ezio Mauro and Carlo De Benedetti, and since 2020, integrated into the management of the Gedi group under the guidance of John Elkann and Maurizio Molinari.
The rumors, circulating since last Thursday, indicate that the due diligence process has now closed and negotiations are in the final stretch, to the point that an announcement is considered a matter of days.
Radio stations also included in the sale package
Kyriakou is expected to acquire La Repubblica and the group’s radio stations: Radio Capital, Deejay and M2o. These represent the real valuable asset of the former Espresso group, as they are profitable and constitute the real value of the deal, with €60 million in revenue and €10 million in profits, compared to the rest of the Gedi group (La Repubblica and La Stampa), which recorded €223 million in revenue and €15 million in losses in 2024.
The radio stations therefore appear to be the main target of the Kyriakou family, which is historically active in shipping but has a strong presence in media through the ANT1 group, which, besides Greece, operates television and radio in Serbia, Cyprus and Turkey. The Kyriakou group is based on the London-headquartered company K Group, which is owned by the Saudi investment fund PIF and supported by a one billion dollar investment from Qatar.
The sale will likely result in a loss for Exor/Gedi
There is currently no information regarding the sale price. In 2020, Elkann paid €220 million to acquire the Gedi group from the De Benedetti family, while today Repubblica and La Stampa appear in Exor’s balance sheets with a value of just €72 million.
It is therefore unlikely that Exor’s CEO will be able to recover the investment made five years ago, when he envisioned a publishing future centered on the digital sector.
Theodore Kyriakou has already hired a strategic communications company (Comin & Partners) to manage his entry into the Italian market.
