Europe: Raiders Rising

It all seemed so simple. When Italy's Cesare Romiti stepped down from the chairmanship of Italian auto giant Fiat last June, he received a $60 million golden handshake. Romiti quickly used part of the stake to buy 3% of blue-chip industrial and chemical group Snia. With his Italian Establishment friends packing the board, Romiti could easily control Snia and use it as a vehicle for further expansion. It was business as usual, in the tradition of Italian and European clubhouse capitalism.

Romiti, though, wasn't counting on a 74-year-old investor named Luigi Giribaldi. From his base in Monte Carlo, the gravel-voiced Giribaldi has quietly spent about $163 million to build up a 15% stake in Snia. So when Snia's shareholders meet on Jan. 28, he and allies plan to unseat Romiti and his friends. For the Italian Establishment, it will be a rare slap in the face. "In Italy, big capitalists still think that small stakes and a network of friends allow you to control big companies," says Giribaldi. "But my game is different--it's a shareholder's game."