Immsi Chairman: Won't Sell Controlling Stake In Piaggio

Immsi SpA (IMS.MI) Chairman Roberto Colannino said Thursday the group won't give up its controlling stake in Italian scooter maker Piaggio & C SpA (PIA.MI).

Immsi said last week it had sold five million shares in Piaggio, more than 1% of the company, to Banca IMI SpA, a unit of Intesa Sanpaolo SpA (ISP.MI).

The shares were to be resold to institutional investors, and a person familiar with the situation told MF-Dow Jones last week that Banca IMI had already sold the shares.

"No, absolutely not," Colannino, who is also the chairman and chief executive of Piaggio, told Dow Jones Newswires when asked if Immsi would sell off its controlling stake in Piaggio.

"We hold the majority still; we have more than 50%," he said. "We sold 1% of the company because it was a requirement for some investors."

"We're very happy that these investors are becoming partners of our company."

-By Chun Han Wong; Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]; [e-mail]