Sergio Erede

Sergio Erede was born in Florence on 14 August 1940. He moved to Milan to study law at the University of Milan, the city's State University, and graduated with full marks and honours (110 e lode) in 1962.

He then went to the United States to take a Master of Laws at Harvard Law School, which he completed in 1964. Before finishing it he had begun working with the Boston firm Hale and Dorr, and he then joined Sullivan and Cromwell in New York, where he stayed until 1965.

Returning to Italy in 1965, Erede became head of the legal department of IBM Italia, a post he held until 1969. That year he went into private practice and founded the firm Erede Bianchi, which became Erede e Associati in 1995 and was known for mergers and acquisitions, capital markets work and related litigation.

In 1999 he merged his firm with Bonelli e Associati, led by Franco Bonelli, and Pappalardo e Associati, led by Aurelio Pappalardo, to create Bonelli Erede Pappalardo, later renamed BonelliErede. Built on the model of the large Anglo-Saxon law firms, it became one of the biggest in Italy; RaiNews reported revenues of almost 260 million euros in 2025. In his last days he celebrated with colleagues and staff the firm's move from its historic offices in Via Barozzi to a new building in Milan.

Over more than fifty years he worked on many of the defining deals in Italian finance: Olivetti's takeover bid for Telecom Italia, Generali's bid for INA, Italenergia's bid for Montedison, the privatisations of Autostrade and Aeroporti di Roma, the listings of Enel and Finmeccanica, Telecom Italia's acquisition of Seat and the later purchase of Telecom Italia by Pirelli and the Benetton family, Enel's acquisition of Endesa, the merger of Essilor and Luxottica and Cairo's bid for RCS. Il Sole 24 Ore credited him with helping to bring the first leveraged buyouts and the first proxy fight to the Italian market.

He advised leading industrial families and entrepreneurs, among them Gilberto Benetton, Leonardo Del Vecchio in his manoeuvres around Generali and Mediobanca, Violetta Caprotti in the Esselunga arbitration, Pietro Salini of Webuild in the contest with the Gavio group for Impregilo, and Urbano Cairo of RCS. More recently Delfin, the Del Vecchio family holding company, relied on him in its dispute with Mediobanca. He also served on the boards of listed and private companies including Autogrill, Marzotto, Interpump, Carraro, Manuli Rubber, Galbani and Aon Italia.

In 2013 he founded the investment company Space Holding and became its chairman. According to Forbes Italia, it promoted four special purpose acquisition companies that invested more than one billion euros and brought FILA, Avio, Aquafil and Guala Closures to the stock market. He also invested in property and private equity through his family office.

Erede had been a director of the dairy group Parmalat, leaving its board three years before its collapse in 2003. He was nevertheless prosecuted in the bankruptcy case. He waived the statute of limitations in order to try to prove that he had no part in the affair, but in March 2014 Italy's Court of Cassation confirmed a one-year sentence against him. RaiNews reported that he resigned from the boards on which he sat as an independent director after the conviction became final.

Erede was married to Paola, and they had a son, Matteo, who works at BonelliErede. He kept a home in Genoa as well as working in Milan.

Colleagues described him as a man of few words behind the rigorous manner of the business lawyer, and as a person of wide culture and curiosity, a sophisticated reader and a passionate lover of opera.

Sergio Erede died in the night between Friday 16 and Saturday 17 October 2026 in hospital in Genoa, aged 86. He had been taken there after an accidental fall at his home in the city. His death was reported on 17 October by ANSA, Corriere della Sera, la Repubblica, La Stampa, Il Sole 24 Ore and RaiNews.

BonelliErede called him a giant of the profession, not only in Italy, and said his pursuit of excellence and his determination in the face of seemingly impossible tasks would remain a lesson. Pietro Salini, chief executive of Webuild, said that without him the company's long road from family firm to global leader would not have been possible, and EssilorLuxottica chief executive Francesco Milleri said he had been fundamental in realising Leonardo Del Vecchio's vision. Funeral arrangements were not reported.

Erede is remembered as one of the architects of modern Italian corporate law practice. BonelliErede said he had contributed decisively to the development of the country's legal and financial market, distinguishing himself through vision, innovation, professional rigour and independence of thought, and that he had helped shape the Italian mergers and acquisitions sector through the privatisations and the largest takeovers, mergers and restructurings of more than fifty years.

The firm he co-founded, which carries his name, continues as one of Italy's leading law firms.