Pirelli postpones AGM as Italy reviews shareholder pact with Chinese investors

ROME (Reuters) - Italian tyre maker Pirelli said on Wednesday it had postponed its shareholder meeting until June 29 due to government scrutiny of governance agreements involving China's investor Sinochem.

Sinochem is Pirelli's largest shareholder with a 37% stake.

Earlier this year Pirelli said Sinochem had notified Italy's government of plans to renew and update an existing shareholder pact with Camfin, which is the financial holding of Pirelli's Chief Executive Marco Tronchetti Provera.

The right-wing administration has to approve the scheme under golden power rules aimed at protecting assets deemed of strategic importance.

Italy's use of golden powers in most cases results in deals being approved with binding prescriptions to preserve the national interest.

Bloomberg reported on Tuesday that Italy was studying ways to curtail the influence of Sinochem on Pirelli.

ChemChina, which has since merged with Sinochem, bought the majority of Pirelli and took it private in 2015, but listed it on the stock market again in 2017.

(Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte and Giulio Piovaccari; Editing by Keith Weir)