Abstract
The approval of the new SME law last April has unlocked hidden financial potential in Italy: the enhancement of corporate stock value through securitisation operations (destocking). The first systemic operation, led by Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (Cdp) and Cherry Bank in favor of the dairy group Brazzale, paves the way for a profound revision of the calculation of the Net Financial Position (NFP) and the management of working capital within strategic Italian supply chains.
1. The New Regulatory Framework and the Macroeconomic Context
For decades, the Italian industrial fabric, characterized by excellence in sectors with long aging or seasoning cycles (agrifood, wine, luxury leather goods), has had to face a financial anomaly. Hundreds of millions of euros tied up in warehouse inventory were considered, according to traditional accounting metrics, as neutral or negative elements in the calculation of the Net Financial Position (PFN).
The turning point arrived in April 2026 with the approval of the New Law on SMEs, which removed the regulatory obstacles to the assignment and enhancement of revolving inventories for financial purposes. This regulatory intervention addresses a pressing macroeconomic necessity: the move beyond the "just in time" logistics model. The progressive regionalization of supply chains and the risks of geopolitical instability are prompting companies to return to a "just in case" logic, increasing stock volumes to ensure business continuity. Consequently, there is an urgent need for structured finance instruments capable of liquidating such assets without increasing traditional bank debt.
2. The Pilot Operation: The Brazzale S.p.A. Case
The operational debut of the instrument featured Brazzale S.p.A., the oldest Italian dairy enterprise (with a turnover of 340 million euros in 2025, 12 plants, and 1,200 employees). The transaction structured a total financing of 10 million euros, subscribed in equal shares by Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (Cdp) and Cherry Bank.
The transaction benefited from the technical and legal advisory of a consortium of leading market players: Pirola Corporate Finance, Accounting Partners, Cerved Master Services, and the law firm Cappelli Riolo Calderaro Crisostomo Del Din & Partners. The structural complexity lies in the ability to transform a physical and perishable asset (wheels of cheese destined for long-term aging) into a replicable financial instrument.
"A cheese warehouse yields more than government bonds (Bot) and gold. In Italy, there exists a stock of products destined for maturation worth tens of billions of euros. Yet, in the calculation of the NFP, they were worth nothing before this regulation. An anomaly that has finally been unlocked."
3. Technical Mechanism of the Revolving Operation
The operational functioning of destocking is based on the segregation of assets through a special purpose vehicle and a revolving mechanism. The key steps of the Brazzale transaction can be outlined as follows:
| Phase / Actor | Description of the Operating Mechanism |
|---|---|
| 1. Transfer of the Asset | Brazzale transfers approximately 10% of its product inventory to the special purpose vehicle (SPV) named Magazzino Italia SPV. |
| 2. Financing | Cdp and Cherry Bank are providing 10 million euros to the SPV to finance the purchase of semi-finished products/products undergoing seasoning. |
| 3. Management and Sale | Brazzale retains operational management and the marketing of products (despite having transferred the legal ownership to the SPV). |
| 4. Revolving Structure | The proceeds derived from the final sale of finished products are utilized by the SPV both to repay lenders and to purchase new batches of semi-finished goods from the company, maintaining a constant level of available liquidity. |
4. Financial Impact: A Replicable Paradigm Shift
As highlighted by Giovanni Bossi, CEO of Cherry Bank, the introduction of destocking promises an impact on the production system comparable to that of factoring for trade receivables in the 1990s. The financial advantages for structured companies include:
- NFP Optimization: Transformation of long-term immobilized inventory into immediate liquidity without generating traditional bank liabilities reported to the Centrale Rischi as ordinary debt.
- Working Capital Cycle Financing: Targeted support for the product aging phases, reducing the cash conversion cycle.
- Support for investments: Liquidation of internal resources to be allocated to industrial expansion plans, research and development, or technological transition.
5. Future Perspectives and Supply Chain Developments
The institutional objective expressed by Andrea Nuzzi, Business Director of Cdp, is the standardization of the model to make it exportable across all the country's strategic supply chains. The initiative is part of the programmatic framework of agreements between Cdp and the Ministero dell'Agricoltura, della Sovranità Alimentare e delle Foreste (Masaf), aimed at improving access to credit for the agri-food sector.
However, the potential of this instrument extends beyond the borders of the food sector. The eligible industrial sectors include all those characterized by long-cycle production with a predictable prospective price. The market is now awaiting an operational simplification of the regulation, called for by the banking operators themselves, to reduce the structural costs of the SPVs and allow access to destocking even for smaller medium-sized enterprises, thereby consolidating the resilience of Italian value chains.