(Oct 26): Leonardo Maria del Vecchio is weighing a €7.15 million (RM32.7 million) takeover bid for the publisher of Italy’s Il Fatto Quotidiano, in an unsolicited approach that would expand the Ray-Ban heir’s media holdings.

The transaction being explored by Leonardo Maria’s LMDV Capital would take Società Editoriale Il Fatto SpA private at €0.286 a share, according to a statement on Sunday. The shares jumped the most since 2019, despite a response the founding shareholders’ response that they don’t intend to sell. 

Il Fatto, known for its outspoken journalism, has been reporting critically on Del Vecchio, his debt and financial decisions, with direct exchanges between reporters and the 31-year-old billionaire publicly shared on social media. 

Shares of Il Fatto surged as much as 23% to €0.27, the highest level since July, raising the company’s market value to €6.75 million.

LMDV Capital’s board is conducting due diligence on Il Fatto and an offer would depend on conditions including securing at least 82.9% of the voting capital, according to its statement.

In its response, Il Fatto said a group of founding shareholders, who together own a majority of the company, don’t intend to sell and won’t participate in any tender offer launched by LMDV Capital.

Leonardo Maria is one of eight heirs to the fortune left by his father Leonardo Del Vecchio, the founder of eyewear empire EssilorLuxottica SA.

In recent months, Leonardo Maria has invested in media and publishing, including in Gruppo Editoriale Nazionale, which publishes QN, or Quotidiano Nazionale, and other newspapers.

He recently resigned from EssilorLuxottica after failing to win support from family holding company Delfin Sarl to buy out two of his siblings. He issued an escalating series of statements criticising current EssilorLuxottica chief executive officer, Francesco Milleri, on social media and in a podcast interview this month in which he detailed drug abuse.

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