by Quentin Webb

Overseas buyers should look again at Italy. It is hardly surprising that deal-making is slow east of the Alps. But Italian firms excel in fields from fashion to engineering. The country's parlous state is not an insurmountable obstacle to foreign investment. Foreigners just need to find ways to coax Italy's aging entrepreneur-owners to the table.

No one denies the backdrop is dismal. Italy is enduring its longest recession since World War II. Gross domestic product could shrink 1.8 percent this year, the International Monetary Fund forecast this week. A nasty credit squeeze is under way. Bureaucracy and corruption are perennial headaches. And a fragile coalition government makes policy unpredictable.

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Source: http://dealbook.nytimes.com/