Italia Independent appoints new CEO

By

Patrizia Franzese

Translated by
Nicola Mira

Published
Nov 8, 2016

Italian label Italia Independent is boosting its capital base through a share capital increase, and has also decided to strengthen its management team: Giovanni Carlino has been appointed both to the board of directors and as company CEO.

Carlino enjoyed a thirty-year career both as senior adviser and director in leading companies, inside and outside the eyewear industry, and will contribute his strategic vision and executive and managerial abilities to the group's reorganisation and restructuring effort.

Following Carlino's arrival, Italia Independent's co-founder Andrea Tessitore has been appointed Vice-President of the Italia Independent Group. His role will be to coordinate all of the group's expansion activities, except for eyewear, and to search for potential strategic partners in order to reach this objective. He also takes over as CEO of Laps to Go Holding, which controls Garage Italia Customs and the various activities of Italian businessman Lapo Elkann.

Having joined the group's management team, Giovanni Carlino will also have the opportunity of co-investing in the Italia Independent Group, by exercising a purchasing option granted by the majority shareholder. The option relates to a maximum of 600,000 ordinary shares of the Italia Independent Group, that are owned directly or indirectly by Lapo Elkann, and can be exercised only after 1st January 2019. The option's strike price and its related terms and conditions will be defined once the share capital increase currently under way will have been completed.

The Italia Independent Group is active on the eyewear and lifestyle products market through the Italia Independent brand, and in the marketing communications industry through its Independent Ideas agency. The group also acts as a platform for entrepreneurial and commercial initiatives in the communications, design and style sectors, creating synergies to support the domestic and international expansion of the Italia Independent brand.