More Libyan funds invested in Italy have been unfrozen by the courts in Rome.
The Libyan Arab Foreign Investment Company (LAFICO) first bought a 15 percent stake in the then-struggling car manufacturer Fiat in 1977 at the invitation of the company’s founding family, the Agnellis. It sold in 1986, but again took a two percent stake in 2002.
LAFICO also owns 7.5 percent of shares in Italian football team Juventus, worth around €9 million. According to the report from the Libya Herald, Juventus is managed, and 60 percent owned, by the same Agnelli family who have a major holding in Fiat.
Earlier this month the Italian courts ruled that shares in UniCredit and Finmeccanica should be returned to the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA). A 0.58 percent stake (worth €354 million) in ENI was handed back in July.
LAFICO is the Libyan government organization in charge of international investments before the establishment of the Libyan Investment Authority on 2006.
(Source: Libya Herald, LIA)
