Major shareholders in Pirelli Real Estate have agreed a pact that will give them control of the company after it is spun off. Milan-based Pirelli RE - which from next week will be renamed Prelios - is being separated from its mother company, tyre group Pirelli. The spin-off is designed to increase the real estate company’s profitability and attractiveness for investors.

Major shareholders in Pirelli Real Estate have agreed a pact that will give them control of the company after it is spun off. Milan-based Pirelli RE - which from next week will be renamed Prelios - is being separated from its mother company, tyre group Pirelli. The spin-off is designed to increase the real estate company’s profitability and attractiveness for investors.

Major shareholder Camfin (12%), insurance group Generali (2.49%), Edizione (2.61%), banks Intesa Sanpaolo (0.91%), Mediobanca (2.61%) and UniCredit together with oil tycoon Massimo Moratti (0.67%) have committed to a shareholder pact with a term of 18 months, to be extended automatically by a further 18 months. Unicredit's acquisition of a stake in the company is conditional upon Prelios' execution of a planned EUR 20 mln capital increase by end-2010 and the participation of Pirelli Group in the operation.

The shareholder group will control 21% of Pirelli Real Estate's share capital. Under the agreement, the parties will be dismissed from the pact and its obligations should their total stake fall under the 18% threshold.

Industrial group Pirelli announced at the end of last year that it was to spin off its real estate arm by assigning its 58% stake in Pirelli & C Real Estate to its own shareholders. The move is part of the group's new strategy to focus on its core business.