MILAN: Football club Juventus has handed Hill & Knowlton Milan a
financial PR and IR brief for its upcoming IPO.
The Turin-based outfit is planning to list before the end of the year,
depending on market conditions, and has drafted in H&K to help make its
IPO a success.
H&K Milan is co-ordinating all communications for the IPO to develop
national and international media relations - both on and offline.
Sister WPP-owned agency, UK City PR firm Buchanan Communications, will
work alongside H&K to provide specific PR activity in the UK.
H&K is working alongside Juventus on both PR and advertising strategies
and has advised the club on the appointment of Italian ad consultancy
BGS.
H&K Milan deputy general manager Valerio Vago, who is also a director in
the financial practice, is leading a three-strong team on the
account.
The H&K team reports to Juventus marketing manager Romy Gaa.
'They are one of the best Italian football teams, but they want to widen
out to new activities in order to transform the company from just a
football club to a leisure group,' said Vago.
Juventus is hoping to become an entertainment and media enterprise and
has bought land on which it aims to build a leisure village, using the
money raised from the float.
Vago said the club has been planning to float for the past five
years.
'There are few IPOs at present due to market conditions, but the
decision to float is not a decision of the moment,' said Vago.
Juventus is one of the most popular football clubs in Italy, with an
estimated 17 million supporters globally, of whom 11 million are in
Italy.
The side is currently in fourth position in Serie A, Italy's top
division.
