Died at 86 after a fall, for over half a century at the center of big finance

Business lawyer Sergio Erede, a leading figure in Italian finance who in over fifty years of career dealt with some of the most important corporate transactions in our country, died during the night at the age of 86. The death occurred in Genoa in hospital, where Erede had been taken after an accidental fall in his home in the Ligurian city.

Born in 1940 in Florence, Erede is considered a doyen of Italian commercial law. Having graduated with 110 cum laude in 1962 from the State University of Milan and after obtaining a Master of Laws from Harvard Law School in 1964, he began practicing law in 1967, establishing himself over the years as one of the most important business lawyers in our country.

In 1969 he founded the Erede Bianchi firm, which later became Erede e Associati in 1995, known for its activity in the fields of mergers and acquisitions, capital markets and related litigation. In 1999 he founded, together with Franco Bonelli and Aurelio Pappalardo, the law firm Bonelli Erede Pappalardo, which later became Bonelli Erede.

Numerous operations have been followed in over half a century of career, from Olivetti's takeover bid for Telecom Italia, to Generali's takeover bid for Ina, from Italenergia for Montedison and Seat for Buffetti, but also the privatization of Autostrade e Aeroporti di Roma, the listings of Enel and Finmeccanica, the acquisition of Seat by Telecom Italia and that of Telecom Italia by Pirelli and the Benetton group.

He was alongside industrial dynasties and entrepreneurs such as Gilberto Benetton and Leonardo Del Vecchio, whom he assisted in the battles over Generali and Mediobanca, Violetta Caprotti in the Esselunga arbitration, Pietro Salini of Webuild and Urbano Cairo, owner of RCS.