Spain steps back from vetoing Deoleo's sale: the door opens for Italy's Coricelli

The needle moved in two weeks. In early September, the talk was that the Spanish government had no intention of letting Deoleo — the world's largest olive oil bottler — pass to a foreign buyer. On 18 September, Madrid was reported to have opened the door to the Italian suitor.

We have already covered the bid table: Italy's Coricelli at €500 million, Spain's Dcoop cooperative at €470 million, with Acesur also at the table. That piece noted that although the figures put Coricelli in front, the Spanish side was understood to regard Dcoop as better placed. That is precisely what has changed.

Five weeks, step by step

What lever does the government actually hold?

What Spain calls its escudo antiopas — the anti-takeover shield — sits in paragraphs 2 and 5 of article 7 bis of Law 19 of 2003. Liberalisation of certain foreign direct investments is suspended, and that suspension has been extended to 31 December 2026.

The detail that matters: the suspension covers not only non-EU investors but residents of EU and EFTA countries as well. Crossing the 10% threshold in a Spanish company that is deemed strategic and listed on the exchange requires prior government authorisation; for unlisted companies the trigger is a transaction value above €500 million. Because Deoleo is listed, an Italian buyer has to pass through that gate too. EU membership by itself grants no exemption.

Spanish press reported that the Italian side had considered presenting the bid through its subsidiary in Seville, so as to make the transaction look Spanish. The same reports said this would not remove the authorisation requirement. Coricelli's parent holding, Farmers Elite Global, does own a Spanish company, Aceites Abasa.

⚠ The softening on 18 September is not a formal decision. It rests on government sources and was reported with the caveat that any transaction "must abide by Spanish and European competition rules". The two ministries passing responsibility back and forth three days earlier belongs to the same picture: an informal veto is politically cheap but legally fragile, while a formal veto has to be reasoned and then defended.

What condition is the company in?

⚠ The 18% fall in revenue should not be read on its own. A bottler's turnover tracks the shelf price, and 2025 was a year in which olive oil prices came down from record levels. What is on the table is not a failing company but the largest brand portfolio in a market descending from a price peak.

One point deserves attention: the portfolio is already binational. The classics of the Spanish shelf, Carbonell and Koipe, sit under the same roof as the Italian export brands Bertolli and Carapelli. Behind the argument that "a Spanish company is going to foreigners" stands a company that has been selling Italian brands for years.

Whose side is time on?

The suspension runs to 31 December 2026. Spanish press has reported, however, that the government is preparing to extend the regime into 2027, specifically in order to keep investments by EU companies under review. The lever will therefore not expire before the sale process concludes; waiting for the calendar to close the gate is not an option for a buyer.

That detail also explains why the Spanish suitors have not walked away despite the exclusivity. A seller can decide who it will negotiate with; it is not the seller alone who decides whether the transaction happens. Exclusivity is a commercial undertaking, and it does not substitute for administrative authorisation.

⚠ No decision on the authorisation has been announced. The only established fact is that the power still stands.

What changes for Türkiye?

Deoleo is not a producer but a major bulk buyer; much of what it bottles is purchased on the market. The identity of the buyer therefore bears directly on Turkish exporters.

The rough frame is this. If a producers' cooperative acquires a bottler, it would be expected to give priority to its own members' oil, and outside bulk purchasing narrows. Italian bottlers, by contrast, operate in a country that produces less than it consumes and exports; buying bulk from abroad is structurally normal for them. Read that way, an Italian buyer means a door that stays open for the Turkish bulk exporter rather than one that closes.

⚠ This is an inference. None of the bidders has announced a sourcing policy; the process is at the exclusivity stage and no final decision has been disclosed.

After a year in which exports fell 62% by value, the question of who ends up owning Europe's largest bottler will also shape the list of buyers at the table as new-season contracts are written. The question to watch is no longer who bid more. It is whether Spain will use its authorisation power — and, if it does, what it will rest that decision on.