Would it be good if profit was their only motivation? IMO the main problem with this is precisely that it ends up sending control of profits abroad. Of course, that's true with any multinational company. Anything else beyond profiteering can always be reversed by simply taking back control of the company in the worst case. Ownership is always with the grace of governments.
> Would it be good if profit was their only motivation?
yes, because the profit in the future would be priced into this sale today - presumably owned by italian.
This means the funds could be reinvested in a different company today - a new start up perhaps - which creates more profit in the future.
The problem with buying control for more than just profit (or regardless of profit) is that those who are buying control is seeking to control more than just commercial interest. If an unfriendly gov't were to instruct such holders to perform certain tasks, they would comply.
I think the preference is that the acquiring companies aren’t subject to extrajudicial influence by their governments where one might be cautious of Chinese or Russian ownership because their governments have embeds in these companies.
So it’s usually safer to have a Korean, Japanese, W European or Anglophone company take a stake. Obviously, all companies have some ties with their governments but the difference is degree and independence as well as a non-rubber stamping judiciary. Revolving doors can be an issue but it’s much less an issue than actual gov officials embedded in companies.
> Anything else beyond profiteering can always be reversed by simply taking back control of the company in the worst case. Ownership is always with the grace of governments.
Lol. You think it would be so simple for Italy to take control of a Chinese owned company? You think they could just do that at the snap of their fingers, with no repercussions?
I think it depends where the actual operations were. If most of the staff and physical assets were European based then absolutely. China pretty much already do this with companies operating in China.
