Danilo Masoni News

Italian luxury yacht builder Ferretti, owned by Chinese industrial conglomerate Weichai Group, has created a new unit to build boats for the patrol and defence of international waters, lands and coastlines, it said on Wednesday. Ferretti Security and Defence (FSD) will design, develop and manufacture defence vessels, target the Middle East and Asian markets, collaborate with other bigger defence companies, and its parent will invest 5 million euros ($5.48 million) in the division this year, Ferretti Chief Executive Alberto Galassi said at the unit's launch in Rome in comments confirmed by a spokesman. The move comes as countries around the world are beefing up defence budgets to respond to heightened security concerns.

A gradual lifting of sanctions against Iran could lift Italian exports to the Asian country by around 3 billion euros ($3.3 billion) in the next four years, Italy's export credit agency SACE said on Tuesday. "Regaining lost market share in Iran will not be easy considering that competitors such as China, India, Russia and Brazil have had fewer constraints in recent years," SACE said in an emailed statement. Even though a deepening of sanctions in late 2011 significantly cut trade, Italy remains one of the main commercial partners for Iran, SACE said, adding that the oil and gas, automotive, defence, transport, real estate and construction sectors would offer the best opportunities there. (Reporting by Danilo Masoni)

Reuters - The main shareholder in D'Amico International Shipping has launched a placement of up to 42.2 million shares, or about 10 percent in the Italian shipper, the company said on Thursday. In a statement, it said the shares will be sold via an accelerated bookbuilding to boost liquidity in the stock amid interest from Italian and institutional foreign investors. Final terms of the deal will be disclosed on Friday. (Reporting by Danilo Masoni, editing by Stephen Jewkes)