The President of the Group - Pietro Gussalli Beretta - sat down in April 2025 with Il Corriere della Sera for an in-depth interview, where he shared insights on the Group’s ongoing development and addressed the broader context of European defense.

Beretta: "More concrete actions for European defense, these are investments that will increasingly determine the balance of power"
By Nicola Saldutti

The president of the firearms manufacturer: we will move forward with investments and are actively exploring new acquisition opportunities.

The ReArm Europe plan, with the idea of investing €800 billion to build a truly European defense system, has sparked very different reactions. Pietro Gussalli Beretta, president and CEO of Beretta Holding, which controls one of the largest groups in Europe in the sector, with 50 subsidiaries and a turnover of €1.6 billion, with a presence in 24 countries ranging from Qatar to the United States, is very clear: "We hope that concrete steps can be developed to advance the creation of a true European defense system in the medium term. It is a necessary path. Currently, the system resembles a puzzle where many resources and synergies are wasted, which would give greater strength to the EU itself. A few years ago, it was believed that ground combat was a thing of the past, but in Ukraine, we saw that it is not. That’s why investing in joint research projects and increasing interoperability of systems would be an obligatory path. In any case, we are seeing that many countries are multiplying investments in the sector."

Presence in the U.S.
Prime Minister Meloni’s mission to Washington will include the defense dossier. Beretta Holding has four plants in the United States, a presence in eight states, and a turnover of $650 million. President Trump insists on the need for Europe to foot the security bill itself: "There were already some warning signs a long time ago. America has sent many signals to increase investments with all previous administrations. We Europeans don’t want to think that the U.S. might have other priorities, even a changing international strategy. For the United States, economic investments are always linked to military security investments."

The Group’s Numbers
How is the group doing? "We continue to invest; the family and management have made internationalization and technology the keys to development. And the results prove us right." Last year, EBITDA grew to €237 million, and liquidity reached €207 million. "We intend to grow even further. We are considering new acquisitions, including some in the United States. One direction of growth is the Middle East, where we are discussing agreements with governments related to our industrial know-how. There are very significant investment programs worldwide, and we won’t be standing by. We are living through a clear change. I am confident that European countries will rise to the challenges."