Indeed, Colombo, an engineering professor, was a great admirer of Edison, whom he had met in the United States in 1881, securing an exclusive licence for some of his patents for Italy and hiring some of his collaborators.

[4] With the compensation money it obtained from the state, Edison, then headed by Giorgio Valerio, invested heavily to diversify its activities, primarily in the petrochemical sector and by buying the Standa supermarkets chain, continuing producing power only for self-consumption.

[6] Montedison initially was doing well, dominating about 80% of the national chemical market and 15% of the European Community market, but the 1973 oil crisis proved disastrous for the company that was forced to seek state intervention to avoid bankruptcy; by the mid 1970s, the Italian state came to own about 17% of Montedison, becoming its largest single shareholder, but its effective control was even greater as state-owned banks held shares.

[7] In 1980, Mario Schimberni became chairman and negotiated the sale of the state-owned shares to Gemina, a consortium of banks and private companies, to free Montedison from government interference.

Through a rigorous cost-cutting plan and joint ventures with Mitsui and Hercules Inc., Schimberni transformed the money-losing manufacturer of commodity chemicals and plastics into a profitable, diversified holding company.

[11] In 2001, a successful hostile bid to acquire Montedison (that controlled Edison as a subsidiary) was launched by Italenergia SpA, a consortium set up by Fiat, Electricité de France, Sanpaolo IMI, Banca Intesa, and other investors.

In 2005, Transalpina di Energia, a consortium set up by Electricité de France and A2A, purchased 63.3% of the common shares of Edison from Italenergia.