Italian Mid Cap Conference 2023 Growth and Innovation: new prospects for 2023

The impact of the rise in interest rates, the energy crisis, and China opening up again after the pandemic on the macroeconomic scenario are the topics for discussion at the Italian Mid Cap Conference organized by Mediobanca and now in its fifth year which starts today: a two-day event in which 28 listed Italian mid-caps will unveil their growth plans to some 100 Italian and international investors, and includes moments where participants will hear directly from some of the leading players in this segment.

The proceedings will be opened by Francesca Anzeloni, Head of the Mediobanca Mid Committee, and Lorenzo Astolfi Executive Vice Chairman CIB, Head of Mid Corporate and Sponsor Solutions of Mediobanca. Their contribution will be followed by a talk by the heads of Mediobanca Equity Research, Andrea Filtri and Javier Suarez, just a few days after publication of the Italian Outlook for 2023, which estimates aggregate growth of 3% for the Mid-Small Cap segment.

For the Mediobanca Securities analysts, “against a backdrop of a slowing economy, there will be an increasing focus on companies and sectors based on solid trends such as digital transformation, environmental transition and energy efficiency. These major issues will again be strong drivers and growth, and are some of the main priorities of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan for Italy, implementation of which will provide further impetus, in particular for those companies most exposed to the domestic market.”

In particular there could be some appealing growth opportunities for family-owned Italian mid corporates. According to Lorenzo Astolfi, “in this segment Italy has been outperforming the other western economies for a long time now, in terms of the quantity and especially quality of some of the outstanding businesses based in this country. We should be aware of the value these companies, and the challenges they face in order to make the transition to grow at the international level. Our desire and our duty is to work alongside Italian Mid Caps in the organizational and governance challenges faced by them, in their strategic decision-making and extraordinary financing options, in upgrading their management capabilities, managing generational transitions, and assessing M&A opportunities, making them even stronger and more competitive while at the same time preserving their family-based identity. Even in a hard-to-interpret macroeconomic scenario, in fact perhaps especially, there are huge opportunities for Italian medium-sized businesses to unlock further benefit from the short supply chain, the growing trend towards reshoring, and the deindustrialization of many western economies, pursuing the ambition of being a quality production hub for the whole continent of Europe”.

The conference programme also includes two roundtables and a panel:

Growth opportunities in the new macroeconomic senario is the title of the first roundtable, with the following participants: Katia Da Ros, CEO and Vice-President of Confindustria for the Environment, Sustainability and Culture, Michele Moglia, CEO of Crealis Group, and Mario Nardi, CEO of Pietro Fiorentini.

After the first roundtable, Alberto Frasarin, Director of Google Customer Solutions for Italy, will give a talk with the title: Seizing opportunities in a period of uncertainty: tendencies and insights for 2023.

Digital and Innovation transition – strategic drivers for growth is the subject of the second roundtable, with the following taking part: Barbara Colombo, CEO of Ficep and President of UCIMU (the Italian machine tools, robots, automation systems and ancillary products manufacturers’ association), Maximo Ibarra, CEO of Engineering Ingegneria Informatica, and Federico Leproux, CEO of TeamSystem.

Milan, 18 January 2023