Europe’s surviving car-making families at Peugeot, Porsche and BMW have mostly kept their eggs in one basket. But Fiat’s Agnelli family was an early risk diversifier, owning stakes in financial services, property and tour companies, among others. Some were sold to finance Fiat’s turnround. But now the Agnellis look set to more than double their bets on financials. Exor, the family’s quoted investment vehicle, has been eyeing Banca Fideuram, one of Italy’s biggest asset gatherers and part of Intesa Sanpaolo.

Exor’s interest is timely: Intesa would like the cash to plump up its capital cushion. Corrado Passera, chief executive, wants to avoid having to take €4bn of costly government support. Nor is Fideuram core; inherited from the Sanpaolo IMI merger, its tied-agent model competes with Intesa’s own branch network.