AxC: for medium-size and small companies looking to grow

7 September 2006

A working group, Alleati per la crescita (“Together for growth”; AxC) was established today by and between Assotec, IBM Italia and Mediobanca to promote growth by medium-size and small Italian companies. AxC aims to make companies “culturally ready” for the challenge of renewing their operating services by helping them overcome any obstacles raised by their size, accompanying them as they develop their own innovation and/or seek to acquire third-party technologies. The working group shall consist of a committee of three referring members who may bring on board inhouse or external experts from time to time, depending on the specific aspects of the issues being dealt with. Assotec – a consortium of companies owned by the Milan and Turin chambers of commerce, Assolombarda, ANIE (industrial associations), Federchimica and CNR – will be responsible for identifying individual projects and co-ordinating their implementation. IBM Italia will make available its expertise in the reference markets of the selected companies, along with its consulting capabilities in technological and business-related issues and its experience in project management. Mediobanca will conduct the financial analysis required to assess the suitability of the candidates in respect of the projected growth and to evaluate the soundness of the individual projects in earnings/financial terms.