Italian corporate raider Stefano Ricucci is not ruling out making a take-over bid for publishing group RCS Mediagroup, his spokesman said, even as the market doubted his ability to launch such a costly offer. Ricucci's spokesman said on Monday the 42-year old Roman property developer would have almost 20 percent of RCS soon, up from 15 percent he declared last week. "I have several options in mind. All are achievable. For now, the objective is 20 percent," the spokesman quoted Ricucci as saying.
But the market was sceptical about Ricucci's chances of raising at least 420 million euros ($526 million) needed to up his stake to 30 percent and trigger a take-over of the owner of Italy's leading newspaper, Corriere della Sera.
Shares in RCS, which also owns French publisher Flammarion and Spanish newspaper El Mundo, fell as much as 1.3 percent after the statement to trade at 5.8 euros per share.
RCS stock has gained nearly a third in value in the past month on bid speculation sparked by Ricucci's buying spree.
"The shares fell because the market doesn't believe him. He is going to have to spend a lot of money to launch a take-over. He will also have to persuade RCS core shareholders to sell their stakes to him. That is very unlikely to happen," one Milan trader said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Ricucci's stakebuilding pits him against RCS's core shareholder pact, a group of leading industrialists and financiers who control more than 57 percent of the company.
The pact is entrusted with ensuring the stability and independence of RCS and, in particular, Corriere, which is considered Italy's most independent newspaper in a country dominated by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's media empire.
Pact members, including Marco Tronchetti Provera, Telecom Italia chairman, have moved onto a war footing in recent weeks declaring the core shareholders to be united against the raider.
RCS Strategy Director Barbara Poggiali told Reuters last week the group's management had no contact with him. But Ricucci's allegiances and his full motives remain murky, meaning the extent of his financial power is also unclear.
A bus driver's son from Rome's suburbs, Ricucci has emerged as Italy's best-known corporate raider only in the past year, leading analysts to speculate he must have a more powerful backer helping to fund his attack on Italy's financial elite.