The deal, which includes the newspaper La Repubblica, marks a century-long exit from Italian publishing.
One of the most consequential deals in the recent history of Italian media was finalised on Monday when Exor, the holding company of the Agnelli-Elkann family, completed the sale of GEDI Gruppo Editoriale to the Greek conglomerate Antenna Group.
The transaction marks the end of over a century of Agnelli involvement in Italian publishing and triggers a sweeping reorganisation of one of the country’s most prestigious media houses.
The sale had been anticipated for months, with rumours circulating since last autumn and Exor formally confirming its intention to sell in December 2025.
Yet the announcement of the completed transaction on Monday still landed with considerable force – partly because of what it means for Italian journalism, and partly because the news broke on the day Italians were voting in a high-stakes justice referendum, leaving editorial teams already stretched to the limit.
What has been sold – and what has not
The deal covers the entirety of GEDI’s capital, transferred from Exor to the K Group holding company of the Kyriakou family, which controls Antenna.
The acquisition encompasses the left-leaning daily newspaper La Repubblica, the radio brands Radio Deejay, Radio Capital and m2o, alongside HuffPost Italia, National Geographic Italia, the geopolitical journal Limes, and the advertising concessionaire Manzoni.
However, the sale does not include everything that once sat under GEDI’s roof. The historic newspaper La Stampa is to be sold separately to the Italian publishing group SAE, under an agreement announced at the beginning of March.
The lifestyle and entertainment brand Stardust is also excluded from the main transaction and will be disposed of independently.
Antenna
An international media conglomerate with interests spanning television, radio, shipping, finance and property, Antenna is a dominant force in Greek media and has established a significant presence across Eastern Europe, as well as in Australia and the United States.
It operates 37 free-to-air and subscription television channels, two streaming services and two radio stations. It also runs a journalism school. Notably, while the group has deep expertise in broadcast and digital media, it has little prior experience running newspapers.
Antenna is headed by Theodore Kyriakou, one of three sons of the group’s founder Minos. Theodore studied physics and international business at Georgetown University and has cultivated relationships with several world leaders.
Il Post reported that he was among a select group of guests at a state dinner in Qatar last May attended by US President Donald Trump, and that the two are said to be on good terms.
The group has also attracted attention for its connections to Saudi Arabia, whose controversial sovereign wealth fund holds an indirect stake in the Dutch-registered entity that manages Antenna’s Greek media assets, according to Il Post.
Leadership and strategy
Antenna has confirmed that Mirja Cartia d’Asero, a former senior executive at newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore, will lead GEDI going forward, while La Repubblica‘s current editor Mario Orfeo will remain in post. Linus – the radio presenter Pasquale Di Molfetta – will continue to oversee the group’s radio operations.
The new owners have set out an ambitious agenda. Antenna has pledged to invest significant resources to expand the reach of La Repubblica and to develop further what it describes as a radio hub in the Mediterranean, with ambitions extending into documentary production, streaming, podcasts, music, publishing, education and cinema.
In a message to staff, GEDI’s outgoing chairman Paolo Ceretti said the change of ownership was already effective, and struck a cautiously optimistic note.
He praised Antenna as an industrial group for which media is a core business and suggested the new parent would allow GEDI to pursue digital transformation whilst safeguarding editorial independence — a phrase that will be tested rigorously in the months ahead.
Elkann’s parting shot
John Elkann, the Exor chairman who oversaw the original acquisition of GEDI in 2019 from the De Benedetti family, gave an interview to Italian news agency ANSA that was notably pointed in its criticism of the Italian media landscape.
Elkann, grandson of legendary FIAT boss Gianni Agnelli, argued that publishing can only be practised independently when the finances are sound, and complained that in Italy owning a newspaper is regarded as “a tool of influence and power” rather than as a professional endeavour in its own right.
He expressed hope that the twin sales – of La Repubblica to Antenna and of La Stampa to SAE – would guarantee “a future of development and freedom” for journalists at both titles.
“I deeply believe in the profession of journalism, in its fundamental role in society” – Elkann told ANSA – “We have made specific choices to guarantee a free future for La Stampa and the Gedi group. Italy needs free newspapers.”
“It’s the same thought we had when we facilitated the sale of Corriere della Sera, which my family had saved three times in its history” – Elkann added – “And if today Corriere celebrates its 150th anniversary with its accounts in order, it is also thanks to our commitment.”
Journalists react
The remarks did not go down well with those he left behind. Elkann’s decision to frame the sale as an act of liberation rang hollow to journalists who had spent months fighting for job guarantees and editorial protections that, they said, were never forthcoming.
La Repubblica‘s editorial committee condemned the choice of Monday – one of the busiest news days of the year, with a national referendum under way – to announce the transaction, calling it “the final act of disrespect” towards the newspaper and its history.
The editorial committee accused Elkann of having “dismembered and sold off piece by piece a historic publishing group”, paying no heed in the sale agreement to staff demands for employment guarantees, clarity over the editorial perimeter, or commitments on the newspaper’s independence and positioning.
The journalists warned they would resort to “every available tool” to fight for those guarantees and said they would now address those same demands to the new owner.
The National Federation of the Italian Press (FNSI) was equally scathing, noting that “once again Elkann and Exor have chosen the strategy of mass distraction, announcing the sale on the afternoon of the referendum, when all the attention of Italian politics and society is focused on the results of the vote.”
In a statement the FNSI said that in nine years Elkann had presided over “the largest transfer of newspaper titles ever seen in Italy”, and that with the passage of GEDI’s shareholding to the Kyriakou family and the separate disposal of La Stampa, “the group no longer exists. What remains is rubble.”
The wider context
GEDI’s story under Exor’s ownership had been turbulent from the outset. Exor acquired GEDI in 2019 in what was widely regarded as a historic moment for Italian media, but the group’s performance – particularly that of La Repubblica – never met the expectations of its owners.
Rumours that Exor wanted to exit began to circulate last autumn. Negotiations between Exor and Antenna were protracted and at times appeared to stall, with disagreements emerging over the price – the figure Antenna was prepared to pay being considered too low by Exor, though the sums involved have never been publicly disclosed.
In a defining chapter for Italian journalism, two of the country’s most storied newspapers – one the voice of Rome, liberal Italy and the secular left, the other Turin’s paper of record and an institution of the Italian north – have passed into foreign hands within the space of a single day, on the back of a deal years in the making.
Whether the new owners can deliver on their promises of investment, growth and editorial freedom will be watched closely.
Photo credit: Motorsport Photography F1 / Shutterstock.com.
