The Legal 500 > Europe, Middle East & Africa > Italy > Industry focus: Manufacturing

DLA Piper's industry focus group is coordinated by Alessandro Piermanni, who acts for Italian and multinational manufacturers, including Italmobiliare and General Electric. The team, which was recently strengthened by a number of new arrivals at associate level, covers corporate, antitrust, tax, labour, real estate and IP. Piermanni has particular expertise in M&A, joint venture and private equity transactions. In 2018, the team assisted Unilever with the acquisition of a 75% stake in Italian personal care products Equilibra.

Bird & Bird's a manufacturing team provides the full range of advice for a number of high-calibre clients. Team head Stefano Silvestri, who divides his time between Milan and San Francisco and has considerable expertise handling cross-border deals, advised US company TriMas on its acquisition of Plastic in a €27m deal. Alberto Salvadè specialises in M&A, takeovers and capital markets law, while Simone Caddedu acts for clients, including Smiths Detection, on administrative law matters. Other clients include companies in the aerospace, defence and security, technology and home appliance areas.

BonelliErede's corporate and commercial contracts practice assists clients in the manufacturing industry. Key names in this space include Umberto Nicodano, who specialises in corporate governance and M&A, and Eliana Catalano, who is an expert in private equity, joint ventures and commercial agreements.

Commended for its 'deep knowledge' and 'business-oriented' attitude, the industrial manufacturing team at Chiomenti is known primarily for its advice on production and distribution processes, and tax matters. Team head Luca Andrea Frignani, who also heads the firm's London office, assists Italian and international clients primarily with corporate M&A and financing matters. Luigi Vaccaro is noted for his 'competence and experience', and Mario Pelli Cattaneo is another key name.

Pavia e Ansaldo's manufacturing team acts for clients involved in a diverse range of areas including food processing, thermal hydraulics and ceramics. Its workload in the manufacturing space is dominated by high-value transactions. Sven von Mensenkampff, whose dual-qualification allows him to provide multi-jurisdictional advice to German companies, acted for technology giant Bosch on the sale of two major (German and Italian, respectively) manufacturing business arms. Practice head Stefano Bianchi advises manufacturers and private equity funds. Meritxell Roca Ortega, who is also qualified in Spain, is another key name.