Development company for Oltrepò Pavese region, Colline e Oltre, grows

Colline e Oltre, company formed to develop and promote the Oltrepò Pavese area, is growing with the arrival of new shareholder Fondazione Social Venture Giordano Dell’Amore. In the new structure, Intesa Sanpaolo holds a 51% stake, while Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lombardia and Fondazione Social Venture Giordano Dell’Amore hold 24.5% each.

Since November 2021, Colline e Oltre has been developing local agriculture and hospitality chains and attracting new investments in the area to promote its economic development.

Its main goals in the coming years include:

• creating a DMO (Destination Management Organisation) for the Oltrepò Pavese area, along with a unique, iconic brand to promote tourism, food and wine
• setting up an ecosystem for training the tourism and hospitality sector, in agreement with professional institutes
• bringing leading local players together in associations and business networks
• creating a digital platform of services for tourism
• attracting new national and international investors to invest in the wine sector and hotel accommodation sectors
• promoting value-added advisory services for hospitality sector operators

Fondazione Social Venture Giordano Dell’Amore is a strategic operating arm of Fondazione Cariplo in impact investing that has invested around €300,000 in Colline e Oltre in the form of equity and an innovative "impact participatory financial instrument".

Intesa Sanpaolo is involved in the initiative through its Agribusiness Department, the Group's centre of excellence dedicated to the sector, based in Pavia, Italy.

The Oltrepò Pavese region has 13,500 hectares of vineyards, over 1,700 wineries and 40 DOC-certified wines. Over 3,500 agri-food companies producing more than 18 typical products are based in the region. The area also boasts over 200 tourist itineraries featuring spas and sport and wellness offerings, in addition to 50 villages, historical residences and castles and over 60 churches, monasteries and city museums.