IMD Annual Report 2019

47

DE AGOSTINI: REPURPOSING THE BUSINESS & THE FAMILY Benoit Leleux, Marta Widz, Guido Corbetta The Strategic Lab at De Agostini, part strategic think-tank and part assessment tool for the next- generation talent of the Drago-Boroli family, owners of DeAgostini, was brainstorming the future direction of the diversified, family-owned group. After almost 100 years in the publishing and printing business, the third-generation family leader Marco Drago set the family firm on a radical new course, which included globalization and diversification across media and communication, gaming, and financial services to create a powerhouse, with entities listed on three different stock exchanges. However, diversification did not come without its challenges. Could portfolio repurposing also serve to anchor the family’s identity? Were family values properly embedded? Should the holding structure be perennialized? Did the legacy publishing business still serve a purpose? Emotional ties ran deep, but so did the losses… and those were not sustainable. Could the company be pivoted to capture the latest digitalization wave?

“Many business families remain highly attached to their legacy business because they have built their collective family identity around that business. The De Agostini case illustrates how multigenerational, large and diversified family businesses can tackle the problem of under-performing legacy businesses with the use of family resources (Strategic Lab).”

Marta Widz IMD Research Fellow

De Agostini family