Sustainability Channel

Board of directors meeting: the process of reorganization of Pirelli industrial continues

INDUSTRIAL PLAN 2016-2018 WITH VISION TO 2020 PRESENTED

NEW PIRELLI DIGITAL GENERAL MANAGEMENT, ENTRUSTED TO BY LUIGI STACCOLI, CONSTITUTED

PAOLO DAL PINO NOMINATED CEO OF PIRELLI INDUSTRIAL

IPO LAUNCH SEEN BY FIRST HALF 2018

FUTURE GOVERNANCE ALIGNED TO INTERNATIONAL BEST PRACTICE

The Board of Directors of Pirelli & C. S.p.A. met today and was updated on the activities under way with regard to the proposed integration of Pirelli Industrial and Aeolus, acknowledging with favour its progress.

The Board then analyzed the guidelines of the industrial plan for the Industrial segment.

The Board, further, approved the industrial plan 2016-2018, with vision to 2020, for Pirelli Consumer, the sole global player entirely focused on the Consumer business. The strategy calls for:

1. 1. strengthened leadership in the high profitability Prestige and Premium segments;
2. 2. a business model always more focused on the end consumer (‘Consumer Centric Approach’)
3. 3. oversight of new business opportunities offered by new and sustainable mobility (Cyber Tyre and Vélo);
4. 4. total digitization of industrial, commercial and management processes, more efficient and based on predictive models made possible thanks to the deployment of big data and analytics.

To support this course, the Board adopted an organizational model which calls for:

- the constitution of General Management Pirelli Digital, entrusted to Luigi Staccoli, supervising all activities aimed at the digitization of the company;

- the aggregation of all technical structures (R&D, homologations, technologies, manufacturing, quality, motorsport) and sales to Original Equipment under the responsibility of General Manager Technology, Maurizio Boiocchi;

- the attribution of the management of all commercial structures (marketing, supply chain,  aftermarket sales) and the Business Unit Moto to the Chief Commercial Officer Consumer, Roberto Righi, in support of the ‘Consumer Centric Approach’;

- the General Management Operations will be superseded from January 1, 2017. Gregorio Borgo, who has announced his decision to leave the company to pursue a new important professional path, will remain with the company until December 31, 2016 to support the  Ceo, Marco Tronchetti Provera, with the implementation of the new organizational model;

- the nomination of Paolo Dal Pino, currently Ceo of the Latin America region, as Chief Executive Officer of Pirelli Industrial;

- attribution of responsibility for Human Resources Management given to Gustavo Bracco with the role of Chief Human Resources Officer.

The Company extends to Gregorio Borgo its appreciation for the important contribution made to the growth of Pirelli through his 24 years of service.

On the basis of these assumptions, the Board shared the desire to accelerate the course to the company’s listing, immediately launching all the necessary actions. It is foreseen that the preliminary phases for the preparation of the IPO (Initial Public Offering) can be completed during the first half of 2017, with the objective of proceeding, in accordance with the best opportunities offered by the market, with the launch of the IPO by the first half of 2018 on the Milan stock exchange or, however, on one of the leading stocks exchanges at the international level.

Among the elements underpinning the success of the listing, the Board identified:

- the alignment of governance to international best practice, through a Board of Directors and board committees composed of a suitable number of independent directors;

- a shareholder structure that, although beginning with a concentrated shareholder structure, which emerged during the Public Tender Offer, foresees an evolution which ensures a suitable free-float level and one able to satisfy the expectations of international investors;

- a system of incentives that guarantees the alignment of the interests of management with those of all shareholders.

The Board further took note with favour of the decision of the board of Marco Polo International Italy (‘Marco Polo’), which also met today, to share and approve the course decided by Pirelli and the elements underpinning the success of its listing. The Board of Marco Polo confirmed its desire to accelerate the implementation of the shareholders’ agreements signed on March 22, 2015, which have as their basis the creation of value by Pirelli and its relisting.

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PIRELLI AND MILAN BICOCCA UNIVERSITY CONTINUE TO JOIN FORCES IN DEVELOPING TYRES THAT ARE EVEN MORE ECOLOGICAL

RENEWAL OF THE CORIMAV AGREEMENT: A CONSORTIUM BETWEEN PIRELLI AND THE UNIVERSITY FOR RESEARCH INTO ADVANCED MATERIALS

ONE PATENT PER YEAR HAS BEEN REGISTERED SINCE CORIMAV WAS FOUNDED IN 2001

One patent deposited every year, 44 student scholarships and 36 doctoral scholarships: all in the arena of research into advanced innovative materials. This is the end result of the CORIMAV partnership, created in 2001 as a joint venture between Pirelli and Milan Bicocca University, which was recently renewed at an event attended by Pirelli’s CEO Marco Tronchetti Provera, and the rector of the university, Cristina Messa.

The CORIMAV project was born 15 years ago with the objective of developing cutting-edge technologies using new materials, supporting research and development into eventual patent applications, and promoting training and career development opportunities for young researchers. Now, this exciting project opens up its next chapter.

Over the last few years, CORIMAV has evolved considerably, in the same way that the nature of research projects has constantly evolved and Pirelli itself has evolved significantly as a company.

The first phase of the CORIMAV programme provided scholarships aimed at three principal areas: nano-composite materials, energy transfer (superconductivity and distributed generation) and molecular modelling. These academic partnerships between Pirelli and the university anticipated a ground-breaking Italian government initiative three years ago designed to promote the creation of research doctorates in collaboration with industry.

Since 2005, CORIMAV has provided doctoral scholarships to broaden the range of research and put in place continuous and structured programmes. From 2010 onwards, the focus has been specifically angled towards tyres: a sector that is obviously at the heart of Pirelli and its strategy. As a result, the consortium has become a natural think-tank of knowledge and ideas from the university to Pirelli and vice versa.

One of CORIMAV’s greatest strengths is its ability to train highly-specialised engineers with specific skills, which can allow these people to become immediately employed in Pirelli’s research and development division.

So it’s no surprise that since the initiative started, around 20% of the scholarship recipients have gone on to be employed by Pirelli, and that the company has funded a full-time researcher tasked with co-ordinating the work of the CORIMAV scientists: a role that has been held by Barbara Di Credico since 2015. Specifically, the research activities funded by Pirelli target the study of inorganic materials that can be used in the vulcanisation of tyre compounds.

Among the recent success stories are Luciano Tadiello and Antonio Susanna. They are two researchers who have joined Pirelli’s research and development department and contributed to two patent deposits by CORIMAV, to do with new materials for tyres that consume less energy.

Research into new materials to produce increasingly ecological tyres has been the main focus of CORIMAV’s activities in recent years. This includes one of the most innovative projects from CORIMAV, which is also patent-protected: the use of lignin in the production of tyres with a low environmental impact. Lignin is a natural material that has intrinsic antioxidant properties, which when altered by appropriate chemical and physical means, can benefit the mechanical performance of a tyre and become a substitute for fossil-derived products (such as carbon black).

CORIMAV’s green philosophy is not just limited to the production phase and use of a tyre but also to the tyre at the end of its life. Researchers have discovered a process of bio-devulcanisation in which bacteria and other biological agents are used to treat tyres at the end of their life. Thanks to recent research, it has been possible to isolate bacteria with the capacity to remove sulphur-carbon bonds, which can be used to treat tyre constituents at the end of their life with a view to subsequent recycling.

Enrico Albizzati has been the director of CORIMAV since it was created. At the time he was in charge of Pirelli’s materials innovation department, and currently he is the company’s scientific advisor.

CORIMAV is a concrete example of the excellence of the newly created Bicocca District within the university: a centre that unites research, culture, and industry. The consortium currently funds three doctoral scholarships per year in material nanotechnology and research. It also organises courses in management and intellectual property for other science students, as well as courses on specific aspects of science, delivered by Pirelli employees. This is yet another way of fostering increasingly integrated collaboration between the worlds of academia and industry.

The university is very close to Pirelli physically, to the point that there used to be a bridge linking Pirelli’s main building to the one that will now house part of Milan Bicocca University. These days, the bridge is formed of ideas, knowledge and innovation that will form a vital link to the future.

Cristina Messa, the rector of Milan Bicocca University, said: “With the renewal of the CORIMAV consortium, we’re underlining the commitment both from ourselves and Pirelli to invest in research and development of new materials. For 15 years now, CORIMAV’s activities have allowed us to carry out sophisticated industrial research projects and activate advanced levels of professional training, such as the industrial doctorate. This close collaboration, with CORIMAV at its very heart, forms an integral part of a wider strategy to showcase the knowledge and innovation that Milan Bicocca University and Pirelli, together with other partners, are pioneering thanks to the Bicocca District project: a brand new network of academic institutions and companies working together to exchange know-how and opportunities, as well as improving services and enriching professional development.”

Marco Tronchetti Provera, Pirelli’s vice chairman and CEO, commented: “The experience of the partnership between Pirelli and Milan Bicocca University has underlined how companies and academic institutions can together trigger initiatives that promote both professional and economic growth. We are collaborating with a number of different departments within the university that represent excellence at international level, and which help us to turn our most innovative projects into reality, as well as improving our product.”

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PIRELLI TO FURTHER INVEST APPROXIMATELY 200 MILLION EURO IN ROMANIA THROUGH 2021, WILL BRING TOTAL INVESTMENT TO 740 MILLION EURO AND CREATE AROUND 500 NEW JOBS

CELEBRATES 10 YEARS OF INDUSTRIAL PRESENCE IN THE COUNTRY WITH THE VISIT OF THE ROMANIAN PRIME MINISTER DACIAN CIOLOS TO THE SLATINA HUB

Pirelli is celebrating ten years of its industrial presence in Romania and announcing further investment of around 200 million euro through 2021 at the Slatina production hub, underlining its strategic importance to the Group’s activities. By that year, the Italian tyre maker’s investment will have reached a total of around 740 million, creating around 500 new jobs and bringing annual production capacity up to 15 million units, from the present 10 million.

The ten year anniversary was marked by a visit to the Pirelli plant by Romanian Prime Minister Dacian Cioloș. He was accompanied by Finance Minister Anca Dana Dragu and Minister for Labor Dragos Pîslaru. Pirelli was represented by its Executive Vice Chairman and CEO Marco Tronchetti Provera and the CEO of Pirelli Tyres Romania Giuliano Menassi who is also the Group’s head of Research and Development.

The additional investments planned from now to the end of 2021 will allow a further improvement of Pirelli’s industrial competitiveness at the European level. Overall, the factory’s floor space, which since its inception has had the most advanced technologies for the production of car tyres for the Premium segment primarily destined to the markets of Eastern Europe, will be extended to 260,000 square metres from the present 210,000. The enhancement plan also involves the production area in Slatina dedicated to motorsport, which includes a F1 production unit which serves as a back-up for the main Pirelli F1 plant in Turkey.

Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos said: “For me, as the Prime Minister of Romania, this is a very important investment especially because it creates jobs and highly qualified work force. Pirelli also has a few hundred local suppliers, Romanian companies that are further developing together with Pirelli. In the near future, it is important to attract foreign direct investments, but also to anchor them in Romania so that they bring new investment in R&D and innovation in order to create opportunities for local communities and partners”.

Mr. Tronchetti Provera said: “Over this decade, Pirelli has never stopped growing. This is not only because of the strategic location of the Slatina plant, which for Pirelli represents a key logistics and commercial hub for all of Eastern Europe, but also because of the ability to attract and support international investments demonstrated by the country’s institutions which sees Italy as its second commercial partner and one of the most important in terms of investments”.

Pirelli committed to the local community

The Pirelli Group entered Romania in 2004 when it established the company “Pirelli Tyres Romania”. Building of the green field tyre factory began in 2005 and the tyres were manufactured in 2006. As well as its industrial presence in the country, Pirelli is involved in a number of research projects with the Universities of Bucharest and Craiova and committed to many social and cultural activities. These include a project for the dissemination of Italian culture in Slatina and, in collaboration with leading Italian soccer club Inter Milan, the Intercampus project dedicated the children of the city, as well as the partnership between Milan’s Niguarda Hospital and that of Slatina.

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