Italy to Aid Troubled Food Group
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ROME — Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said Saturday that his government would save food group Parmalat Finanziaria, which has revealed a $4.9-billion hole in its accounts in a scandal reminiscent of the bankruptcy case of Enron Corp.
As prosecutors launched a fraud investigation, a new emergency management team at the global dairy firm was working on a rescue plan, which an industry source said would include a request for protection from creditors.
Berlusconi told reporters the Economy Ministry was working on plans to “preserve the industrial part of Parmalat which ... is part of the country’s wealth.”
Parmalat is one of Italy’s best known brand names and has nearly 35,000 employees in 30 countries with annual revenue of more than $9.3 billion.
But concerns about apparently risky financial investments turned into outright panic Friday when it announced that a document showing that nearly $4.9 billion held by a Cayman Islands unit had been declared false by Bank of America.
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