Campari-owner sees €1.3bn seized due to alleged tax evasion

By Oliver Catchpole

Published: 03 November, 2025

Shares in Campari Group have fallen 5% today, after police seized shares worth €1.3bn from its majority-owner Lagfin over alleged tax evasion, as reported by the BBC.

Italian police said the Campari Group shares were confiscated from the company as part of a year-long investigation.

Lagfin, which owns more than 50% of Campari shares, and has 80% of voting rights, has been accused of failing to pay a comparable figure in taxes during its merger with its Italian arm.

Read more: Research highlights viticultural value of old vine Garnacha

The company, which is based in Luxembourg, began a merger with Italian company Alicros in 2018, who at that time held direct control of Campari Group.

The two entities became a single company with the new business owning 51% of Campari shares and headquarted in Luxembourg, according to Italian financial newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore.

A probe into the company was launched last year by prosecutors in Milan. Financial police said on Friday that they had allegedly found €5.3bn in undeclared capital gains between 2018 and 2020 resulting from the merger, on which Lagfin had not paid an “exit tax”, which is levied on firms that transfer their headquarters abroad.

Campari Group said that neither it, nor its subsidiaries were involved in the case. Local media reported, however, that chairman of the Group, Luca Garavoglia – who inherited ownership of Campari from his late mother – is amongst those who are under investigation. Along with Garavoglia, Giovanni Berto, head of the Italian branch of Campari, is also reported to be implicated.

Lagfin told the BBC that it “always acted in the most scrupulous respect of any applicable laws and regulations, including any Italian tax laws”.

It emphasised that Campari was not involved at all and added that the seizure does not affect its position as controlling shareholder.

Based on its Friday closing price, the confiscated amount represents about 17% of Campari’s ordinary shares.

Campari Group, which produces Campari, along with Aperol and Sarti Rosa, recently released its financial results for the first nine months of 2025, as Harpers reported.

Printer friendly version