Gruppo Italiano Vini acquires the last share of Sicilian Rapitalà

The turning point was not sudden and the change of pace was in the air for Rapitalà, the large and historic Sicilian company that ended up in the meat grinder of a nasty anti-mafia investigation in the Palermo area a few months ago. There does not seem to be a correlation with that investigation, which in February involved some of the company's employees, but certainly the Gruppo Italiano Vini, an Italian giant in the sector (with over 1,600 hectares of vineyards and 14 wineries), which already owned 90% of the company, wanted to make a change: first by purchasing the missing share to reach full ownership (10%) and then by completely renewing the company's governance. The purchase operation was closed in mid-May but has only been made public now: Nino Caleca, a criminal lawyer from Palermo who until recently was a magistrate of the Administrative Justice Council (the Sicilian section of the Council of State), has been appointed to the top.

What is now Tenute di Rapitalà Spa was founded in 1968 by Hugues Bernard, Count of Gatinais, who, together with his wife Gigi Guarrasi, committed himself to relaunching the family estates (Gigi was the daughter of the lawyer Vito Guarrasi, who in turn was the heir of a wealthy family of landowners from Alcamo). Today, it consists of 176 hectares of organically managed vineyards in the area that slopes from Camporeale towards Alcamo, in the province of Palermo.

The new Board of Directors of the company has appointed the Supervisory Body, which is chaired by Giovanni Canzio, the President Emeritus of the Court of Cassation, and includes Bernardo Petralia, former Head of the Dap and former Attorney General at the Court of Appeal of Reggio Calabria, and Professor Alessandra Santangelo, a researcher in criminal law at the University of Bologna. "The new and growing challenges on the national and international markets that our group faces on a daily basis - commented the President of Gruppo Italiano Vini Corrado Casoli and the General Manager Roberta Corrà - require new strategies and involve the search for synergies that increasingly support the development of our brands and their valorization. The complete acquisition of Rapitalà is therefore part of this vision, with the certainty of continuing the success story of the Winery".

The company, in a note, expressed "heartfelt thanks to Laurent Bernard de la Gatinais who, following the acquisition, concludes his long and valuable collaborative relationship with Rapitalà, wishing him the best for his personal and professional future."