Vito Gamberale

    Biography

    Born in Castelguidone (province of Chieti, Italy) on August 3rd 1944, Vito Gamberale is married to Laura Fasolato. He has two offspring: Chiara, 41, writer, and Matteo, 35, manager and mechanical engineer.
    He lived in Agnone (province of Isernia) until after graduation; here, in 1962 he earned his scientific high school diploma with top marks. Thanks to a scholarship, he could attend university.
    In 1968, Gamberale earned his degree in mechanical engineering at “La Sapienza” University in Rome, where he then worked as an assistant professor at the department of mechanical systems. In 2007, Gamberale received an honorary degree in telecommunication engineering from “Tor Vergata” University in Rome.

    Throughout his professional career he took over the following appointments: CEO of SIP, General Manager of Telecom Italia, CEO of TIM (Telecom Italia Mobile), CEO of Autostrade per l’Italia, CEO and Founder of F2i – Fondi italiani per le infrastrutture SGR, Chairman of Iterchimica, Vice Chairman of IVS Group.

    His managerial and entrepreneurial achievements covered four main areas of accomplishment:
    1. In the 1980s, he led the privatisation of the ENI Group’s companies that did not fall within the holding’s core business.
    2. In the 1990s, he launched mobile telephony services in Italy and led TIM to becoming a global leader and an absolute benchmark in mobile telecommunications.
    3. In the early 2000s, Gamberale privatised Autostrade per l’Italia and evolved the company into an established multinational enterprise.
    4. He then designed and launched the first Italian (private, yet institutional) fund in infrastructures, raising over 3 billion Euros over 7 years and establishing it as the most important infrastructure fund at European level.
    In details:

    In the same year when he earned his first degree, Gamberale worked in a subsidiary of the ENI Group: Anic – Azienda Nazionale Idrogenazione Combustibili.

    He then left after one year, as he was recruited as industrial analyst by IMI (Istituto Mobiliare Italiano, a public body launched shortly after the 1929 crisis to relaunch the Italian economy through middle- and long-term financing of the industry).

    Gamberale’s responsibilities at IMI included evaluating industrial companies, mainly in the textile, mechanical, iron and steel sectors. During this stage of his career, he came to truly understand Italy’s industrial and production framework.

    In 1977, thanks to such extensive knowledge, he moved to Gepi (Società per le Gestioni e Partecipazioni Statali), a 50% subsidiary of IMI, where he was in charge of acquisitions and privatisations for seven years.

    From 1984 to 1991, Vito Gamberale worked again for ENI as Chairman and CEO of a number of the Group’s companies: here he initiated and achieved the privatisation of ENI’s textile branch as well as of other non-core businesses.

    In the 1990s, Gamberale contributed to the impressive development of mobile telecommunications in Italy. In the years between 1991 and 1998, he was CEO of SIP (Società per l’esercizio telefonico), then General Manager at Telecom Italia and finally CEO of TIM (Telecom Italia Mobile), a company that he contributed to establish in 1995. The following are some of his results achieved in that time period: a growth from 300,000 to 16 million mobile customers; a turnover increase from 2,850 to 12 billion Lire, a net profit increase from 350 to 2,534 billion Lire, a market capitalisation rise from 10,784 to 86,930 billion Lire. In late 1991,Gamberale moved from the 120 SIP agencies distributing products throughout the national market as a monopoly, to a new model based on a network of over 2500 private points of sale that – connected through SIP’s IT network – could activate new contracts online. This most brave and farsighted transaction laid the foundations for the astonishing growth of this market segment. The launch of prepaid mobile cards was another milestone of this market revolution.

    In those few years, TIM grew to become the biggest and most advanced mobile telecommunication company worldwide.

    In the late 1990s, Gamberale joined 21 Investimenti, a private equity fund of the Benetton family with investments by Banca Intesa, Deutsche Bank and Assicurazioni Generali, where Gamberale held the role of Vice Chairman for approximately one year. Within Edizioni Holding (the Benetton family’s holding company) Gamberale designed and managed the privatisation of the Autostrade Group.

    In the early 2000s, he was CEO of Autostrade; thanks to his management, the company evolved into a multinational enterprise and the Group’s EBITDA increased from 1 to 2 billion Euros over five years.

    In that period, the Autostrade Group developed internationally and became the most important infrastructure group worldwide.

    When the shareholders announced the merger with the Spanish company Abertis, Gamberale gave up his role as he did not approve the project and the transaction’s goals.

    In 2006, the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) commissioner Guido Rossi offered Gamberale the role of deputy commissioner for “strategy, activities and general management”, a role that Gamberale held for a short time.
    He then (2006/2007) designed and launched the F2i infrastructure investment fund. F2i manages long-term investments (max. 15 years) in the Italian infrastructure sector. The Fund was established in January 2007; Gamberale was appointed CEO of the asset management company. Major Italian and international financial institutions, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, leading Italian banks, 21 bank foundations, 13 social security funds, and French and American banks invested in the Fund. Gamberale raised 1,852 million Euros (2007 to early 2009, at the heart of the world financial turmoil), that were allocated to investments in various infrastructure sectors, including: airports, integrated water services, renewable energy, gas distribution, and optic fibre networks. Having launched its Second Fund, F2i is now the most important infrastructure fund at European level and one of the major single-country infrastructure investment funds.

    Gamberale resigned from F2i in October 2014, after over 7 years of management, during which time he achieved important results in terms of acquisitions and returns for investors.

    On May 16th 2007 – the same year when F2i was founded – Vito Gamberale received an honorary degree in telecommunication engineering from “Tor Vergata” University in Rome. In the master lecture he delivered on the topic “Telecommunications in Italy: from an influential past to an uncertain present. What future now?”Gamberale analysed the telecommunication scenario in Italy since the 1990s, with a focus on the crucial strategic role played by the Telecom Italia Group in the TLC segment.

    In 2010, Gamberale cooperated with Roland Berger at the introduction of Italy’s first SPAC (Special Purpose Acquisition Company), a vehicle company model already well-established in other countries but unknown in Italy until then. Essentially, SPACs are based on an initial fund raising, the subsequent listing in the Stock Exchange, and the identification of non-listed companies to be included into the Stock Exchange index through corporate mergers. Following the business model of the German company Germany1 (where Berger’s contribution proved to be crucial), Italy1 Investment was launched, with Vito Gamberale as Chairman. The Company allowed the IVS Group – Italian leader in the automatic vending sector – to be listed in the Stock Exchange. Vito Gamberale is currently Vice Chairman of IVS Group Hoding SpA.

    He was a promoter and Chairman of Amici della Speranza, a non-profit association supporting the haematology division of the San Giovanni Hospital in Rome, which was then merged to RomAil, an organisation where Gamberale has been a member of the Board until his resignation in February 2021.

    He was in the Board of IMI (Istituto Mobiliare Italiano) and Vice Chairman of Spei Leasing.

    He was Country Advisory for Italy at At Kerney, member of the European Advisory Board at HSBS and Advisor of Banca Leonardo.

    In July 2015 He became Chairman of Quercus Assets Selection, a fund management company specialising in investments in the renewable energy segment. He resigned in 2018.

    Since June 2015, Gamberale is a shareholder and Chairman of Iterchimica, a leading company in the production and sale of chemical paving additives.

    In February 2020 he founded and became Chairman of ITEЯ Capital Partners.