First 30 companies selected for Borsa Italiana new project

First 30 companies selected for Borsa Italiana’s new elite project

Borsa Italiana today announces the launch of Elite, its new SME support project. Elite will offer concrete support to fast-growing Italian SMEs via a portfolio of tools and services designed to boost the visibility and attractiveness of the selected companies to potential investors.

At the opening event, which took place today at Palazzo Mezzanotte, the first thirty companies selected by an independent committee were introduced to the public. The event was attended by Vittorio Grilli, Vice-Minister of Economy and Finance. The selected SMEs will attend their first ELITE training session today.

The thirty companies, chosen from among over 100 candidates, are drawn from a wide range of industries and regions but all share strong projected growth outlooks. The companies have annual revenues between 9 and 405 million Euros, (average: 78 million Euros) and an average annual growth rate of 20%.

The selected companies cover sectors including fashion, design, food, logistics, diagnostics and shipping. They are regionally distributed as follows: 10 in Lombardia, 6 in Campania, 4 in Toscana, 5 in Veneto and Friuli, 3 in Emilia Romagna, 1 in Abruzzo and 1 in Liguria.

Following the success of the first stage of the project, Borsa Italiana is considering selecting further companies to be admitted to the Elite project in October 2013.

Raffaele Jerusalmi, CEO of Borsa Italiana, said:
"Elite is a exciting and tangilble project dedicated to SMEs, supporting their growth and internationalisation. It represents an important innovation, not only in Italy but in Europe too and I’m delighted that we have the support of important partners across the private and public sector. Elite confirms Borsa Italiana’s commitment to the development of Italian SMEs: the driving force of our economy and the future of our financial community."

Luca Peyrano, Head of Continental Europe Primary Markets of Borsa Italiana said:
"Small and medium companies are ambitious but often require additional resources and relationships in order to grow. ELITE represents in this sense, a true "growth-accelerator", working alongside Italian SMEs to develop a concrete and focused plan to help them develop to their fullest potential."

ELITE’s institutional partners are: MEF (Ministry of Economy and Finance), Confindustria, ABI, Bocconi and Academy.

The companies admitted to the first phase of Elite are:
Amut, Arioli, Bassilichi, Bifire, Bomi 2000, Comecer, DBA Group, De Nora, Drogheria e Alimentari, DS Group, E.P.M., EidosMedia, Elco, Finlogic, Harmont & Blaine, Lago, Light Force, Metal Work, Peuterey, Pianoforte Holding, Rigoni di Asiago, San Lorenzo, SDN, Slide, Svas Biosana, Tapì, Tecnocap, Truestar, Welcome Italia, Zanardi Fonderie.

More information about Elite project are available at:
http://borsaitaliana.it/elite/homepage/elite.htm

Ends

For further information, please contact:

Federica Marotti                                           Media Relations +39 02 72426.212

Oriana Pagano                                               media.relations@borsaitaliana.it

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