Independence Actinvest is an independent financial advisor. It does not belong to any financial or industrial institution. It is London based and FSA regulated.   London: European Financial Centre Recent Projects During the last twenty years Actinvest Corp. has worked closely  with some of the most important Italian and international  industrial groups to define financial strategies, acquisitions,  disinvestments, privatisations, and public listing.   Herewith are some of the most meaningful plans carried out by  Actinvest Corp. in the last few years.  Actinvest has been the strategic advisor for three years of the  Korean fashion and retail group Eland in its European  expansion. Actinvest has identified, evaluated and assisted in  the negotiation of, the following Targets which have been 100%  acquired:  Belfe: historic outerwear brand Lario 1898 (including Banfi, Bressan & Verdelli, Sutor): shoes and bags Peter Scott: knitwear  Lochcarron of Scotland: tartan manufacturer  Mandarina Duck: bags Coccinelle: high quality leather bags La Compagnie Financière Edmond de Rothschild, based  in Paris has retained Actinvest Corporation as advisor with  respect to their strategy of possible acquisition of targets  operating in the Italian and European private banking and  asset management sectors. Actinvest Corporation has been the strategic advisor of  Prudential Corporation of America, the US largest life  insurer and one of the most important insurance groups of  the world, to set up a fund management joint venture in Italy  with Banca Popolare di Bergamo Credito Varesino, (now UBI  Banca).  Il Sole 24Ore Sviluppo Spa, company owned by the  publishing group “Il Sole 24Ore”, has retained Actinvest in  order to develop new plans in the field of the electronic media  and on-line products as far as the intra group development of  the activities or new initiatives are concerned. Moreover the  assignment envisaged the involvement of Actinvest into the  development of new strategic alliances with international  partners.  Actinvest has assisted the public utility company Suez  Lyonnaise Des Eaux in the procedure for the purchase of  43% of the registered stock of the Azienda Energetica  Metropolitana Torino SpA. In particular Actinvest Corporation  has monitored the privatisation process and has offered full  assistance in all the several steps of the procedure (Letter of  Intent, Business Plan, final proposal); and finally it has  assisted in the appraisal of the Azienda Metropolitana Torino  SpA (Underground Company of Turin SpA).  Actinvest has advised one of the main producers of building  materials in the United Kingdom (Polypipe Plc) in order to  identify, analyse and evaluate Italian companies present in  the same sector. Actinvest has assisted one of the main European producers  of home-accessories (Magnet Ltd) to find, analyse, and  evaluate two Italian companies operating in the same sector.     Actinvest  assisted an Italian textile company in its quotation  on the Milan Stock Exchange in July 1999.  Actinvest Corporation has been the advisor of the National  Express Group, one of the most important European group  within the transports sector, in the program of expansion in  Italy.  We have assist them in the acquisition of some  regional airports.  As in all the projects followed by us we  identified a series of targets that could be acquired, we  contacted them, we analysed them, and in a second phase  we assisted our client during the negotiation with the  interested counterpart  Actinvest has assisted two American groups, Premark and  Hobart, in the disinvestment of their European controlled  companies. Actinvest has assisted General Electric Capital in the  acquisition of an Italian company active in the field of  financial leasing.  Actinvest has worked with Lavazza supplying assistance to  the top-management of the Piedmont company, analysing for  them both the Italian market and the international one,  proposing them strategies for the development of the  company, in Europe and Latin America.       Contact us Actinvest Corporation Ltd.   146-148 Cromwell Road London SW7 4EF Tel   +44 20 7259 2193 Fax +44 20 7373 2864 Info: corp@actinvest.com Research driven Actinvest is a "research driven" company. It believes in the importance of a deep knowledge of the industrial and marketing strategies both of the client and of the target.   Actinvest Corporation, 146-148 Cromwell Road, London SW7 4EF, Registered in England and Wales under no  2560165