Italian authorities have seized shares worth €1.3 billion (£1.1 billion; $1.5 billion) from Luxembourg-based Lagfin, the controlling entity of the Campari Group, as part of an ongoing investigation into alleged tax evasion. The confiscation follows a year-long probe into the company’s financial activities, particularly its absorption of its Italian subsidiary. Prosecutors allege that Lagfin failed to pay taxes equivalent to the value of the seized shares during the merger process. Campari, the renowned producer of spirits such as Aperol, Grand Marnier, and Courvoisier, has stated that neither the company nor its subsidiaries are involved in the case. However, Campari’s chairman, Luca Garavoglia, is reportedly under investigation. Lagfin, which holds over 50% of Campari’s shares and 80% of its voting rights, has maintained that it has always adhered to tax obligations across all jurisdictions. The investigation, initiated by Milan prosecutors last year, uncovered €5.3 billion in undeclared capital gains between 2018 and 2020, on which the company allegedly failed to pay an ‘exit tax’—a levy imposed on firms relocating their headquarters abroad. Italian financial newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore also reported accusations that Lagfin transferred Italian assets to foreign ownership solely for tax benefits. Garavoglia, a billionaire who inherited Campari from his late mother, and Giovanni Berto, head of Campari’s Italian branch, are both implicated in the case. Campari, one of the world’s largest spirits producers, is valued at approximately €7 billion on the Milan Stock Exchange. The company traces its origins to 1860, when Gaspare Campari’s homemade bitter liqueur gained popularity at his Milan bar. By 1904, the family began commercial production, and from the 1990s, the firm expanded by acquiring other alcohol brands.