Now, as Italian investors ponder the deals, they are smarting from what they see.

The company has lost considerable favor with Italian investors since its initial public offering in November 1999.

About half of the financing was to come from private Italian investors, whom Columbus had already lined up.

The colonization company developed the town with the help of different credits that proceeded from Italian investors.

It is easy to sneer at the Italian investors who bought the Argentine bonds.

That plays well to Italian investors, many of whom were affected in the last two years by the bankruptcies of Parmalat and other companies.

German and Italian investors expressed interest in the Unis plant but decided the investment was too risky, managers at the plant said.

Word that Mr. Galateri would be chosen had been whispered among Italian investors for days.

Italian investors also worked in building, construction, and agricultural industries.

By contrast, Spanish and Italian investors are contributing heavily to $1 billion of hotel and resort construction under way on the coast.