The new financial instrument for the development of Historical Trademarks

From defense to growth: the Enterprise Preservation Fund evolves from crisis management tool to industrial development lever for Historical Trademarks of National Interest.

With the recent approval of the annual Law on Small and Medium Enterprises (Law No. 34 of March 11, 2026), a significant development of the Enterprise Safeguard Fund was introduced in Article 2, expanding its possibilities for intervention in support of the national production system.

The Fund, established to promote business continuity and safeguard employment levels and managed by Invitalia, is now also configured as a tool capable of accompanying paths of development and industrial consolidation, with particular reference to companies holding Historical Trademarks of National Interest.

In this context, the possibility for companies to access the Fund in the context of revitalization operations of companies in difficulty, through capital interventions carried out with market logic and in co-investment with private entities, is strengthened.

Before the reform

• Intervention in corporate crisis situations
• Goal: continuity of production and preservation of employment
• Possible transfer to third parties
• Predominantly defensive function

What changes

• Access to the Fund for Historical Trademarks companies (over 20 employees) also for rescue and restructuring operations
• Ability to acquire failing enterprises in the same supply chain with at least 20 employees
• Introduction of industrial consolidation operations
• Strengthening the active role of enterprises in development processes

What it means for businesses

• New opportunities for growth and industrial integration
• Dimensional and productive strengthening
• Increased competitiveness in markets
• Protection and enhancement of Italian industrial assets

Why it is strategic

• Avoids dispersion of skills and know-how
• Strengthens national production chains
• Reduces the risk of loss of industrial control
• Supports a more robust development of the production system

An active industrial policy lever

The reform marks a shift from a mainly defensive logic to a development logic, favoring the emergence of more solid, integrated and competitive industrial clusters, with Historical Trademarks increasingly playing a leading role in Made in Italy growth processes.

The Fund continues to operate through temporary holdings in the capital of enterprises, in compliance with European regulations on state aid.

Insight

For an in-depth look at the main new features and how the instrument works: Download the presentation on the reform of the Enterprise Safeguard Fund