ROME – The Seif stock, listed on the Euronext growth Milan market, rose in early stock market trading by 19% to 0.262 euros following the news that Lmdv media (the media arm of Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio) has started due diligence in view of a takeover bid. Seif is the company that controls Il Fatto giorno, both the paper and web version, and the production company Loft.
The board of directors of Lmdv media announced on Sunday evening that the due diligence is also aimed at verifying that the financial requirement in the next 24 months does not exceed 4 million euros, in view of the promotion of a voluntary total takeover bid (OPA) on Seif aimed at delisting. The possible takeover bid would be promoted at the price of 0.286 euros per share, for a total value of 7,152,860 euros. The consideration incorporates a premium of approximately 30% compared to the official price of Seif shares as of 23 October 2026 and a premium of approximately 16.85% compared to the average of the official prices recorded in the six months preceding that date.
Leonardo Maria's initiative, however, is already crippled because it is unable to reach the expected threshold of 82.9%. Already on Sunday evening, in fact, the Seif partners who control 50% of the capital, including the journalists, Padellaro, Travaglio, Gomez, Lillo and the CEO Cinzia Monteverdi, officially communicated that they were not interested in the sale of their shares. Furthermore, there is a statutory limit that prevents any single shareholder from owning more than 17% of the capital. There is a 40% free float on the market and therefore even if Lmdv media were to continue its initiative by giving up the target threshold of 82.9%, at most it will be able to buy and control 17% of Seif's capital.
But Leonardo Maria doesn't give up and relaunches. 'Il Fatto has written a lot about us, even critically. It is exactly the journalism we want to protect – declared Lmdv on Monday morning -. We don't ask anyone to change their mind about us. We only ask to listen to a project that keeps the newspaper safe. We are available to meet the founding members, the director and the editorial committee, when and how they prefer". Lmdv media writes in a note that it takes note "with respect of the position expressed by the founding members" of the publishing company Seif spa. In seventeen years, Il Fatto has built "a loyal and demanding community of readers and a recognizable identity based on investigative journalism and independence. This is the value that Lmdv media recognizes and intends to preserve. From this perspective, "Marco Travaglio's direction is an integral part of this product. The project "provides for its confirmation, together with the full autonomy of the editorial team, the editorial line and the format of the newspaper, which we do not intend to change".
In recent days, Il Fatto has published a series of articles regarding the financial situation of Lmdv Capital and has taken up an investigation that appeared in the New York Times in which Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio is involved.
Given these considerations, Lmdv media's initiative seems more aimed at focusing media attention on the accounts of the company that publishes Il Fatto giorno, which in the 2026 interim consolidated financial statements recorded "significant uncertainties that may give rise to doubts about business continuity".
The Seif group closed the first half of the year with a loss of 283 thousand euros (an improvement compared to 1.6 million in 2025) in an income statement that shows 19.1 million in revenues (+6% on the first half of 2025) and a gross operating margin of 2.1 million. “The growth is driven by the increase in revenues from digital subscriptions and advertising sales which have made it possible to offset the reduction in revenues from newsstand sales of the newspaper which, although higher than those estimated in the 2026 budget, are lower than those recorded in the first half of 2025”, writes CEO Monteverdi in the financial statement report. By substituting digital subscriptions for newsstand sales, margins are lower and cash flow also drops. And it is no coincidence that the Lmdv media project indicates "a requirement of up to 4 million in the next 24 months and to verify this requirement together with management".
During 2026, Lmdv media launched into publishing by purchasing from the Riffeser family the editorial group that publishes the newspapers QN, Il Giorno, La Nazione, Il Resto del Carlino, as well as 30% of Il Giornale controlled by the Angelucci group. But Lmdv Capital itself, which controls Lmdv media, needs continuous liquidity injections from its main partner, Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio, already having 350 million in debt with Crédit Agricole which has obtained all the shares of the corporate vehicle as a pledge.
