Sad but true Italy is currently playing a marginal role in Europe. The loss of political and economic prestige is also affecting the market of mergers and acquisition. Italy, in fact, looks unreliable to the eyes of institutional investors.

According to the last Mergermarket survey, during the first quarter of 2013, the only noteworthy business operation in Italy was the merger plan of Atlantia, Italian motorway company and Gemina, which owns Rome airport operator ADR (both of them already controlled by Benetton family)

What makes this scenario even more scary, is that a possible economic recovery can only come from international operators, which since several months by now, have targeted some of the most precious jewels of Italian economy.

Is the best of Italy at risk of flying away? Well, it might.

Credit crunch, in fact, is hitting several Italian companies which appeal to foreign investors and private equity funds with relevant financial means. It appears there is no other way for these companies than to be sold.

In a globalized market, the small-scale enterprise (at the basis of the Italian economy) is a structural handicap. The same criticism can be applied to Italian law firms, giants at home, but irrelevant abroad.