The Italian Sea Group (TISG) has applied for the appointment of an independent expert to initiate a negotiated settlement procedure under Italy’s Crisis Code (Articles 12 et seq. of Legislative Decree No. 14/2019) and has requested the imposition of asset protection measures against all creditors. Those measures became provisionally effective on 13 March, the date on which the designated expert, President of the Order of Chartered Accountants and Accounting Experts of Florence, Dr Enrico Terzani, accepted his appointment. TISG is now seeking confirmation from the Court of Florence.

In practical terms, the filing gives TISG temporary legal protection from its creditors. No bank, supplier or factoring company can pursue enforcement action against the company’s assets while negotiations proceed. An independent accountant, in this case Dr Terzani, will oversee the process, facilitating structured discussions between TISG and its creditors to agree on a restructuring. The company will continue to trade as normal. It is not bankruptcy, but it is a formal acknowledgement, ratified by the Court of Florence, that TISG cannot currently meet its obligations without a negotiated resolution.

The filing follows a sequence that began on 18 February, when TISG’s board first disclosed sizeable extra-budget costs across the majority of its orders in progress and approved a €25 million emergency shareholder loan from GC Holding, the vehicle through which chief executive and now chairman Giovanni Costantino holds a majority stake in the company.

On 24 February, factoring company International Factor Italia filed a payment demand against TISG. The Board of Statutory Auditors and the statutory auditor, BDO, both subsequently issued formal crisis notifications under Art. 25-octies of the Crisis Code, giving the board ten days to report on remedial measures taken.

Global audit firm KPMG is conducting an independent forensic review of the extra-budget costs, with a preliminary red-flag report due around mid-April. The full-year accounts for December 2025 are not expected before mid-year.

Today’s session on Borsa Italiana has been particularly dramatic. As of this afternoon (16 March), the stock is trading at around €1.28, having opened at €2.04 and plunged to a session low of €1.24, a single-day fall of roughly 36.7 per cent at the time of writing. Zooming out, the picture is one of sustained and severe destruction of shareholder value, with the 52-week range running from €6.80 at the top to €1.28 at the bottom, a decline of around 81 per cent. As of tomorrow (17 March), TISG’s shares will no longer feature on the STAR premium segment of Euronext Milan following the board’s voluntary withdrawal on 6 March.  

The crisis has also taken a judicial dimension as of 9 March, when Costantino filed a criminal complaint with the Public Prosecutor’s Office against a group of former senior executives, alleging coordinated financial fraud. The former chairman and vice chairman, who resigned in late February, have separately stated their intention to independently scrutinise the company’s recent management.

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The Italian Sea Group

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