London, 31 October 2026 — EBM Weekend Read — By Nick Staunton
Four years after Leonardo Del Vecchio died, the empire he built from a small Italian workshop is up for grabs, and the most surprising bidder has stepped forward. Michal Strnad, a 34-year-old Czech arms billionaire, has made an unsolicited, all-cash offer of €30bn for Delfin, the family holding company that controls Ray-Ban’s owner, according to Bloomberg.
It is one of the boldest bids in European business this year. It pits a young defence tycoon against one of Italy’s most famous dynasties, and raises a question that is becoming harder for Europe to avoid: who gets to own the continent’s crown jewels?
The Prize
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SubscribeDelfin is far more than a sunglasses company. It is the largest shareholder in EssilorLuxottica, with almost a third of the Franco-Italian eyewear giant behind Ray-Ban, Oakley, Persol and the Sunglass Hut chain. EssilorLuxottica also makes the Ray-Ban smart glasses developed with Meta, one of the few AI consumer products to catch on, at a time when Meta is spending up to $145bn on AI.
Delfin also holds substantial stakes in insurer Assicurazioni Generali, UniCredit and Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, some of the most strategically important financial institutions in Italy. Its portfolio is worth more than €40bn. Strnad’s offer values it at roughly a 30% discount to its net assets, according to a letter dated 20 October and reported by ProtoThema.
The Bidder
Strnad is one of the biggest winners of Europe’s rearmament. He took control of Czechoslovak Group (CSG), the country’s leading ammunition and arms maker, from his father in 2018. CSG listed in Amsterdam in January in the largest ever flotation of a pure defence company, making it the most valuable listed company in Central Europe and earning Strnad €2.55bn. He is now the Czech Republic’s richest person, with an estimated fortune of about $18bn.
Defence has become one of Europe’s hottest sectors, as start-ups from AI to defence attract record investment and governments pour money into security, from the EU’s €90bn bet on Ukraine to national champions like France’s ChapsVision. Strnad already has an Italian foothold: CSG controls ammunition maker Fiocchi Munizioni, and he recently bought a personal 14% stake in tyre maker Pirelli.
For Strnad, Delfin would be a dramatic move into luxury, finance and consumer brands, turning defence profits into a diversified empire.
A Family Divided
The bid lands on a family already at war with itself. When Del Vecchio died in 2022, he left Delfin split equally between eight heirs, his widow and children, each holding 12.5%. Since then, some have wanted to cash out, while others have tried to buy relatives’ stakes to consolidate control.
Strnad has offered to buy the whole company but says he would accept a controlling stake of at least 62.5%, which would let some heirs keep their shares. He says the bid is “fully financed” and could complement management’s plan to buy back up to 25% of shares from unhappy family members.
The most outspoken opponent is Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio, 31. He recently had a €3.5bn offer for his half-brother Rocco Basilico’s stake rejected. “My father’s life’s work must remain an asset for Italy,” he told Bloomberg.
The biggest obstacle is the rulebook. Changing Delfin’s ownership restrictions requires the unanimous approval of all eight shareholders. With at least one heir openly opposed, that looks like a very high bar. The offer reportedly expires after 30 days.
Italy’s Red Lines
It is part of a wider European tension. Foreign money has been quietly buying stakes in the continent’s prize assets, from Gulf investors buying into Man City and Heathrow to private equity circling listed companies. Politicians are pushing back, and nationalist parties, from Marine Le Pen’s National Rally in France, which is leading the polls, to Italy’s governing coalition, are increasingly hostile to foreign control of national champions.
Markets don’t expect a quick deal. EssilorLuxottica’s shares barely moved in Paris after the news.
Is It a Good Idea?
For Strnad, the logic is strong. He would buy a portfolio of world-class assets at a big discount, diversify away from the cyclical defence business, and gain influence over some of Italy’s most powerful institutions. Luxury brands have proved remarkably durable, as the success of Soho House shows, although even the strongest names can stumble, as De Beers discovered.
For the heirs who want out, a fully financed cash offer may be the cleanest exit they will get. But for Italy, selling control of Delfin to a foreign defence magnate would be a political earthquake.
My Read
Strnad’s bid is bold, smart and probably doomed, at least in its current form. The price is tempting for heirs who want to cash out, and the logic of turning defence profits into a diversified empire is sound. But the unanimity rule gives any single heir a veto, and Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio has made clear he will use it. Even if Strnad won the family over, Rome would almost certainly step in to protect Generali, UniCredit and Monte dei Paschi. The more likely outcome is that the bid forces the family to resolve its feud, either through Delfin’s own buyback or a deal between the heirs. Either way, Strnad has shown that Europe’s new defence billionaires have the money and the ambition to challenge its oldest fortunes, and this will not be the last time.
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