Benatti

[FaGal]

Benatti sugli scogli

Una girandola di società off shore che comincia da un'isoletta del Pacifico. Si scatena così lo scontro tra il manager italiano e il colosso della pubblicità Wpp

di Maurizio Maggi e Vittorio Malagutti

Porta all'altro capo del mondo, a una minuscola isola Stato nel bel mezzo dell'Oceano Pacifico, la battaglia tra Martin Sorrell, padre padrone del colosso mondiale della pubblicità Wpp, e Marco Benatti, ex responsabile per l'Italia del gruppo britannico. Con meno di 2 mila abitanti, Niue è poco più uno scoglio, ma di recente si è conquistato un posto di riguardo nell'atlante dei paradisi fiscali. Un centro off shore ultrariservato e, come dire, anche un po' fuori mano. Non per niente i misteriosi proprietari della piccola società milanese Mediaclub nel 2002 scelsero come schermo proprio una società con base a Niue, battezzata Sfera 1.

La questione è delicata. E di fondamentale importanza. Perché Mediaclub nel 2002 venne comprata da Wpp. E adesso Sorrell sospetta, neppure troppo velatamente, che proprio Benatti fosse uno dei soci di riferimento di quella società passata di mano per 14 milioni di sterline. Dopo settimane di schermaglie, il 9 gennaio scorso il manager veronese è stato messo alla porta senza troppi complimenti dal suo datore di lavoro. Alla guida del gruppo Wpp in Italia Sorrell ha nominato una persona di fiducia, Daniela Weber, che per oltre vent'anni ha lavorato al fianco proprio di Benatti.

Parte così una contesa condita da veleni e colpi bassi che sta facendo gran rumore nel mondo della pubblicità e della comunicazione. Perché di fronte a Benatti, uno dei manager più influenti e conosciuti del settore, c'è il boss di un gruppo che controlla agenzie globali come J. Walter Thompson, Ogilvy Mather e Young & Rubicam, con 8 miliardi di dollari di fatturato e 80 mila dipendenti in giro per il mondo. Una sfida in cui abbondano avvocati, banchieri, investigatori privati e specialisti delle pubbliche relazioni, l'un contro l'altro armati.

Al centro dell'attenzione e dei sospetti c'è proprio l'affare Mediaclub. Anche perché Sfera 1, la finanziaria basata tra le rocce, non è l'unico paravento off shore. Poco prima della vendita a Wpp, il 90 per cento di Mediaclub viene ceduto a un'altra società off shore, la Callia di Madeira, a sua volta partecipata da Sfera 1 e da un'altra finanziaria, questa volta panamense, la Kintale finance. I soldi di WPP, quindi, approdano a Madeira. Nel frattempo Callia passa di mano. Entra in campo un'altra società panamense insieme a un fondo con base in Scozia, l'European development capital partnership (Edc). Ebbene, per sua stessa ammissione, Benatti compare tra gli investitori di questo fondo, che è gestito dalla banca svizzera Arner. La scelta si spiega anche con il fatto che il fratello del manager, che di nome fa Vittorio, lavora proprio nell'istituto con base a Lugano.

Ma va segnalato un altro fatto. Da documenti ufficiali risulta che proprio un funzionario di Arner, Carlo Rossi Scribani, ha svolto incarichi per conto di Callia. Per lo stesso Rossi Scribani è stato chiesto il rinvio a giudizio, quando era responsabile delle relazioni con i clienti della Arner fiduciaria, nell'ambito dell'inchiesta sulle presunte irregolarità nell'acquisto di diritti cinematografici da parte della Mediaset di Silvio Berlusconi.

Insomma, Benatti si affida ad Arner che, a sua volta, riconduce a Callia. "Ho sempre affidato i miei investimenti alla Arner attraverso mio fratello", dice Benatti a 'L'espresso', "e il mio legame con Callia si limite al fatto che in questa società ha messo dei denari il fondo Edc, al quale io partecipo insieme a molti altri investitori". Il pubblicitario veneto definisce "un cumulo di falsità" tutte le illazioni sulla vicenda.

Intanto Benatti è partito al contrattacco. Ha annunciato il lancio di un'offerta pubblica d'acquisto sulla Fullsix, la piccola società quotata (che si occupa di marketing relazionale e capitalizza circa 100 milioni di euro) di cui è vicepresidente e azionista di maggioranza relativa e nella quale il 26 per cento è in mano al gruppo di Sorrell. A sostenerlo nella scalata è la finanziaria bresciana Mittel, guidata dal presidente di Banca Intesa, Giovanni Bazoli. Wpp non pare intenzionata a reagire in Borsa.
Espresso

[FaGal]

Anger and hatred of 'Benattigate'
business.timesonline.co.uk - By Amanda Andrews - February 17, 2006


Marco Benatti cannot understand why WPP is refusing to return prize possessions that he left behind in its Milan offices when he departed from the group.

“My office has been closed and my personal belongings are still there,” he said. “I have a Harley in the garage still — one made for the hundred years of Harley Davidson that cost €22,000. I also have paintings and sculptures in my office.”

A WPP source added that Signor Benatti still has a company Range Rover, mobile and BlackBerry.

Signor Benatti, who is at the centre of allegations of fraudulent activity at the advertising giant, was sacked by WPP’s chief executive, Sir Martin Sorrell, on January 9. WPP has since hired Kroll, the forensic investigator, and Deloitte, the accounting and consulting firm, to investigate the group’s Italian operations.

Since the start of “Benattigate” — a tag that Signor Benatti appears to find amusing and feels almost flattered by, grinning whenever the word is mentioned — the Italian has refused to talk to the media and has communicated only through heavily rhetorical written statements. But he flew from Milan to London this week to try to “protect my reputation”.

“The damage to my reputation in Italy is enormous,” he said. “They have accused me of stealing clients and fraud. Every week there is another accusation. It is the worst thing than can happen to a communications man.”

Signor Benatti is small, clean-shaven and approachable and his manner and clothes — a suit and a tank top — are unmistakably Italian. He chain-smokes and speaks little English, needing a translator.

He was employed as a consultant by WPP and is alleged to have introduced a media-buying firm called Media Club to WPP. The advertising group agreed to pay Signor Benatti a commission of about £140,000 for introducing Media Club.

WPP acquired Media Club three years ago for a sum equivalent to £14 million and commission payments were due to be made to Signor Benatti, depending on its performance. However, subsequent inquiries by WPP have allegedly revealed that Media Club was ultimately controlled and majority-owned by Signor Benatti.

Signor Benatti admitted on Wednesday night to having some interest in Media Club. “I indirectly had an interest in Media Club. My brother told me about a fund based in Scotland that invested in around ten companies,” he said. “One of these companies was Callia, a holding company of Media Club. I started investing in the fund in 1999.”

Signor Benatti said he could not remember the name of the fund or confirm what percentage he held in Media Club. He said he felt no need to disclose this investment to Sir Martin and was not asked to disclose it.

WPP said Signor Benatti admitted to Sir Martin on January 22 that he had an interest in Media Club through a fund.

The investigation was triggered when a dispute broke out between Sir Martin and Signor Benatti over the size of the earn-out that the Italian thought he was due for Media Club. WPP believed the figure was about €300,000 (£205,000) while Sir Martin said the Italian wanted €8.9 million. Sir Martin then ordered a more detailed investigation of Signor Benatti’s financial affairs.

Sir Martin said: “Our meeting on December 14 was the end. He was trying to make the case for a third payment for Media Club of €8.9 million. He was getting the introducing fee. We thought it should be more like €300,000 . . . He had previously said that he had no interest in the business.”

Signor Benatti’s story is very different. He said: “On December 14 we did not discuss an earn-out for Media Club. And I did not suggest an earn-out of €8.9 million. I never advised on a figure. I wasn’t worried about the figure.”

A WPP spokesman said the continued delay in closing a Fiat Media Centre transaction and the finalisation of a Telecom Italia contract caused concern that Signor Benatti was trying to bring these investments and accounts into his new operation.

However, Signor Benatti argued against this claim: “I was not steering clients from WPP to FullSIX [a marketing company part-owned by WPP and in which Benatti has a stake].”

Signor Benatti added that he sensed there was tension between himself and Sir Martin in the middle of last year, when Sir Martin did not ask him to help choose a chief executive for the Italian office of Ogilvy, the advertising agency. Signor Benatti claimed he had always been involved with Ogilvy in the past and learnt that the decision would instead be made by Ogilvy’s chief executive, Shelly Lazarus. Signor Benatti threatened to leave the company at this stage.

The Italian said he wrote in an e-mail to WPP senior executives on July 19: “I do not agree that ‘politics’ should always have the last word on managerial choices . . . For the above reasons I reserve the right to reconsider my position and my further permanency at the group.”

Signor Benatti claimed that any issues Sir Martin had with him were exacerbated by WPP’s Italy chief operating officer, Daniela Weber. Benatti, who first met Ms Weber when she was 19 and worked as his secretary, blamed his departure from WPP on a leadership struggle between him and Ms Weber.

Benatti said: “Daniela Weber has a dramatic influence on Sorrell and is similar to Martin in managerial style. I feel betrayed by Daniela and Martin.”

Signor Benatti claims never to have had a relationship with Ms Weber. Sir Martin said that Signor Benatti did have a relationship with Ms Weber but that it had since ended.

What is impossible to escape is that the anger and hatred are increasing daily and that, if the issue is not resolved soon, something has to give.

Sir Martin said: “For Christmas he gave me three books: Machiavelli’s Prince, The Art of War and On War by Von Clausewitz. I wondered what would be appropriate for him. I Decided either a biography of Mussolini or a DVD of The Untouchables.”

THE ITALIAN VIEW

Italian newspapers have reported with some relish the more bizarre aspects of the WPP affair, such as the unexplained “nocturnal intrusions” at WPP’s Milan offices last month (Richard Owen writes).

By and large, however, the affair is seen as a personal battle between two powerful and combative figures in the advertising business who were bound to come to blows sooner or later.

“WPP-Benatti, the advertising war”, ran the headline in La Repubblica this week on an item that said that the two battlers were engaged in a “trial of strength” over Fullsix.

It explained, for readers who had not followed the saga, that Sir Martin Sorrell had fired Marco Benatti in January for alleged fraud and that the Italian had hit back with a countersuit. It was, said La Stampa — which also brought readers up to date this week — a tale of “sex, lies and break-ins which has shaken the advertising world”. The Turin paper also, however, portrayed the affair as a personal battle, with few, if any, wider implications.

Italy’s business pages yesterday reported that Blugroup Holding, controlled by Signor Benatti, had been given the go-ahead for a takeover bid for Fullsix.

[FaGal]

WPP Italy probe spreads to TV group
www.telegraph.co.uk - By Andrew Murray-Watson - February 19, 2006


An investigation by WPP, the advertising giant, into alleged fraud at its Italian subsidiary has been extended to examine possible financial links between the sacked chief executive and BRW, a supplier to the company.

Sir Martin Sorrell, the chief executive of WPP, last month fired Marco Benatti, the head of WPP Italy, for an alleged failure to declare a financial interest in Media Club, a company acquired by the advertising group in 2003 for £14m. As part of the takeover Benatti took a £140,000 "finder's fee" for proposing the deal.

It is believed that investigators working for WPP, which include Kroll, the forensic investigators, and Deloitte, the accounting firm, have now identified a supplier to WPP Italy that they believe has links to Banca Arner, the secretive Swiss bank where Benatti's brother Vittorio works as a high-ranking investment banker.

BRW, the supplier now under the spotlight, has carried out extensive TV production work for WPP Italy over the past few years. It is understood that WPP's investigations team believes that Banca Arner has a 40 per cent stake in BRW, held through an offshore trust.

Last week Marco Benatti admitted that he held only a small "indirect" stake in Callia, the parent company of Media Club, after he invested in a Scottish investment fund which had in turn invested in the Italian business. The name of the Scottish fund is European Development Capital Partnership. Marco admitted last week that Vittorio had advised him on business matters because of his banking expertise.

WPP alleges that Marco had a controlling interest in Media Club.

Earlier this month Marco Benatti launched an action against WPP and has threatened to sue Sorrell over "the immense damage he has personally created by his repeated defamatory statements". He said: "The damage to my reputation in Italy is enormous. They have accused me of stealing clients and fraud. Every week there is another accusation. It is the worst thing that can happen to a communications man."

Benatti also claims that he has been unable to reclaim personal possessions from WPP's offices in Milan following his departure from the company. Benatti says they include paintings, sculptures and a Harley-Davidson motorbike.

WPP executives have met the group's major Italian clients, including Fiat and Vodafone, to reassure them that it is "business as usual" in Italy.

Separately, WPP is also being sued by Northern & Shell, the media company owned by Richard Desmond, the proprietor of the Express newspapers. N&S is suing for $5.5m (£3.2m) over a dispute relating to the launch of magazine in the US last year. WPP is counter-suing for non-payment of bills.

WPP's shares finished the week marginally up at 633.5p, as investors decided that the Italian wrangle would not hurt its balance sheet.

Sorrell will announce the company's full-year results on Friday. Analysts are forecasting pre-tax profits of £630m, up from £456.5m the previous year.

[FaGal]

WPP unravel 'Benatti Spaghetti' mess
www.thisismoney.co.uk - James Ashton, Daily Mail - February 21, 2006


Advertising giant WPP claims to have rejected approaches by dismissed executive Marco Benatti to reach a settlement over their increasingly bitter fraud row.

'Benatti has made several attempts at settlement, but without telling us everything he did,' WPP boss Sir Martin Sorrell said. 'We are not interested until we get a full disclosure. As we dig into it more, we find more.'

Benatti, who was fired as the marketing giant's Italian country manager, denies making the approach.

It emerged he had a stake in Media Club, a business he was paid a fee for introducing to WPP and which it later bought for £14m three years ago. WPP has since called in corporate gumshoe Kroll to untangle a web of holding companies.

Attempts to unravel the 'Benatti spaghetti' - as Sorrell calls it - that has looped itself around WPP Italy have led to a tiny South Pacific island.

Investigators working for WPP reckon they can trace a shareholding in Media Club back to Niue, a sun-kissed tax haven three hours northeast of New Zealand by plane.

Benatti has admitted to owning shares in a Scottish trust that indirectly held a stake in Media Club. But the probe into alleged fraud has also spread to several trusts controlled from a bank in Switzerland and linked to Benatti's brother Vittorio.

Sorrell said: 'It is very difficult for anyone to justify the sort of structures that we are finding, other than on the basis that they are complex arrangements to avoid discovery. Why would you go through companies in Niue and Switzerland other than to not be open?'

Also under investigation is internet television production company BRW, which has picked up work from WPP.

More senior WPP Italy staff are expected to get the chop. WPP (unchanged at 633½p) is due to unveil full year profits of close to £625m on Friday.

[FaGal]

Originalmente inviato da FaGal

Benatti sugli scogli

Una girandola di società off shore che comincia da un'isoletta del Pacifico. Si scatena così lo scontro tra il manager italiano e il colosso della pubblicità Wpp

di Maurizio Maggi e Vittorio Malagutti

Porta all'altro capo del mondo, a una minuscola isola Stato nel bel mezzo dell'Oceano Pacifico, la battaglia tra Martin Sorrell, padre padrone del colosso mondiale della pubblicità Wpp, e Marco Benatti, ex responsabile per l'Italia del gruppo britannico. Con meno di 2 mila abitanti, Niue è poco più uno scoglio, ma di recente si è conquistato un posto di riguardo nell'atlante dei paradisi fiscali. Un centro off shore ultrariservato e, come dire, anche un po' fuori mano. Non per niente i misteriosi proprietari della piccola società milanese Mediaclub nel 2002 scelsero come schermo proprio una società con base a Niue, battezzata Sfera 1.

La questione è delicata. E di fondamentale importanza. Perché Mediaclub nel 2002 venne comprata da Wpp. E adesso Sorrell sospetta, neppure troppo velatamente, che proprio Benatti fosse uno dei soci di riferimento di quella società passata di mano per 14 milioni di sterline. Dopo settimane di schermaglie, il 9 gennaio scorso il manager veronese è stato messo alla porta senza troppi complimenti dal suo datore di lavoro. Alla guida del gruppo Wpp in Italia Sorrell ha nominato una persona di fiducia, Daniela Weber, che per oltre vent'anni ha lavorato al fianco proprio di Benatti.

Parte così una contesa condita da veleni e colpi bassi che sta facendo gran rumore nel mondo della pubblicità e della comunicazione. Perché di fronte a Benatti, uno dei manager più influenti e conosciuti del settore, c'è il boss di un gruppo che controlla agenzie globali come J. Walter Thompson, Ogilvy Mather e Young & Rubicam, con 8 miliardi di dollari di fatturato e 80 mila dipendenti in giro per il mondo. Una sfida in cui abbondano avvocati, banchieri, investigatori privati e specialisti delle pubbliche relazioni, l'un contro l'altro armati.

Al centro dell'attenzione e dei sospetti c'è proprio l'affare Mediaclub. Anche perché Sfera 1, la finanziaria basata tra le rocce, non è l'unico paravento off shore. Poco prima della vendita a Wpp, il 90 per cento di Mediaclub viene ceduto a un'altra società off shore, la Callia di Madeira, a sua volta partecipata da Sfera 1 e da un'altra finanziaria, questa volta panamense, la Kintale finance. I soldi di WPP, quindi, approdano a Madeira. Nel frattempo Callia passa di mano. Entra in campo un'altra società panamense insieme a un fondo con base in Scozia, l'European development capital partnership (Edc). Ebbene, per sua stessa ammissione, Benatti compare tra gli investitori di questo fondo, che è gestito dalla banca svizzera Arner. La scelta si spiega anche con il fatto che il fratello del manager, che di nome fa Vittorio, lavora proprio nell'istituto con base a Lugano.

Ma va segnalato un altro fatto. Da documenti ufficiali risulta che proprio un funzionario di Arner, Carlo Rossi Scribani, ha svolto incarichi per conto di Callia. Per lo stesso Rossi Scribani è stato chiesto il rinvio a giudizio, quando era responsabile delle relazioni con i clienti della Arner fiduciaria, nell'ambito dell'inchiesta sulle presunte irregolarità nell'acquisto di diritti cinematografici da parte della Mediaset di Silvio Berlusconi.

Insomma, Benatti si affida ad Arner che, a sua volta, riconduce a Callia. "Ho sempre affidato i miei investimenti alla Arner attraverso mio fratello", dice Benatti a 'L'espresso', "e il mio legame con Callia si limite al fatto che in questa società ha messo dei denari il fondo Edc, al quale io partecipo insieme a molti altri investitori". Il pubblicitario veneto definisce "un cumulo di falsità" tutte le illazioni sulla vicenda.

Intanto Benatti è partito al contrattacco. Ha annunciato il lancio di un'offerta pubblica d'acquisto sulla Fullsix, la piccola società quotata (che si occupa di marketing relazionale e capitalizza circa 100 milioni di euro) di cui è vicepresidente e azionista di maggioranza relativa e nella quale il 26 per cento è in mano al gruppo di Sorrell. A sostenerlo nella scalata è la finanziaria bresciana Mittel, guidata dal presidente di Banca Intesa, Giovanni Bazoli. Wpp non pare intenzionata a reagire in Borsa.
Espresso

Sorrell orders Swiss bank fraud inquiry
www.tmcnet.com - February 12, 2006


The bitter battle engulfing the Italian operation of advertising giant WPP grew even more ferocious this weekend.

Investigators are probing a Swiss bank linked to alleged frauds at WPP Italy, while the group's chief executive, Sir Martin Sorrell, has been threatened with legal action by a former executive.

Sorrell fired Marco Benatti, manager of WPP Italy, last month and filed a writ in London against him for breach of their consultancy agreement. Two more executives are expected to be fired within days, and Giovanni Bossi, chairman of the Italian arm, is likely to follow.

Private investigator Kroll, acting for WPP, is understood to be looking into various trusts controlled from a bank in Lugano, Switzerland, that are linked to Benatti's brother, Vittorio.

It is thought the trusts could have been used to hold stakes in businesses that were in direct competition with WPP.

Benatti has now countersued WPP Italy and the parent company in London over his dismissal and has threatened to take action against Sorrell personally for "repeated defamatory statements."

The row stems from an inquiry by WPP that showed Benatti had a stake in a company called Media Club, which WPP bought for 14 million four years ago.

WPP paid Benatti a fee for introducing the company, but only discovered afterwards that the Italian had a stake in the business.

[mark 17]

Che fatica tradurre !! ....... comunque un bell'intrico, non c'è che dire ! Quasi, quasi cambio aria.

[visch]

banca arner...........

è nota.................

ha una sede sul lungolago di lugano, quasi impercettibile...........

ma ogni volta si scopre che muove interessi enormi.............

guarda caso, è l'unica banca svizzera, accanto all'UBS ed al CS (banche con dimensioni moooooooooolto superiori, mondiali), con sede legale anche in italia (privilegio concesso da bancitaly).............

[visch]

l'italia è un paese incredibile.................

[FaGal]

Originalmente inviato da visch

l'italia è un paese incredibile.................

[mark 17]

Vorrei proprio sapere come finisce il braccio di ferro !

In teorie WPP dovrebbe avere e spalle più forti, ma in questi casi non si sa mai.