(Bloomberg) -- Pirelli & C. SpA Executive Vice Chairman Marco Tronchetti Provera increased his holding in the Italian tiremaker after China’s Silk Road Fund Co. sold off its stake.

State-backed Silk Road sold about 9% for €520 million ($561 million) at around a 7% discount to Wednesday’s closing price. 

Tronchetti, who’s led Pirelli since the early 1990s, now owns 22.8% of the company, which makes tires for high-end brands including Ferrari NV, McLaren Automotive Ltd. and Bentley Motors Ltd. Still, Chinese conglomerate Sinochem Holdings remains Pirelli’s largest investor. 

Italy has been working to limit Chinese influence over assets it deems strategic, and last year the government led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni used its “golden power” rights to impose restrictions on Sinochem’s access to information from sensors in Pirelli tires.

Pirelli’s Italian investors are tightening their grip over one of the country’s largest manufacturers. Brake specialist Brembo NV, which owns 6% of the company, last year signed a shareholders’ agreement with Tronchetti’s Camfin holding to strengthen their position.

Shares in Pirelli, which was founded in Milan in 1872 to produce elastic rubber items, fell 5.4% in Milan at 10:45 a.m. local time. 

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