In her first speech, Ms La Gattuta examined the main pitfalls to avoid for entrepreneurs planning Mergers & Acquisitions transactions aimed at bringing new investors into their companies. She stressed the importance of approaching investors with clear governance, well-segregated business units, a separately held real estate portfolio and orderly contractual arrangements: factors that not only enhance the perceived value of the business and facilitate its sale, but also ensure more efficient and less risky day-to-day management. She further highlighted how a corporate group reorganisation can unlock tax benefits such as the participation exemption and the dividend exemption, as well as the option to elect for group VAT, allowing the offsetting of VAT credits across the different companies of the group.