Aid can be granted to SMEs for any form of initial investment. Aid to large companies can only be granted for “an initial investment in favor of a new economic activity in the area concerned”. 

Initial investment means: 

1. investment in tangible and intangible assets relating to one or more of the following assets: 
   1. the creation of a new factory; 
   2. the expansion of the capacity of an existing plant; 
   3. the diversification of the production of a factory to obtain products never previously manufactured; 
   4. fundamental change in the overall production process of an existing factory; 
2. acquisition of assets belonging to an establishment that has closed or that would have closed in the absence of an acquisition, provided that it is acquired by an investor who has no relationship with the seller. The simple acquisition of shares in a company is not considered an initial investment. 

Initial investment for the creation of a new economic activity (the only eligible investment for large companies in the Abruzzo SEZ) means: 

• investment in tangible and intangible assets relating to one or more of the following assets: 
  • the creation of a new factory, or 
  • the diversification of the activity of an establishment, provided that the new activity is not the same or similar to that carried out previously in the same establishment, or 
• the acquisition of assets belonging to an establishment that has closed or that would have closed in the absence of the acquisition, provided that the new activity that will be carried out using the acquired assets is not the same or similar to that carried out in the establishment before the acquisition. The simple acquisition of shares in a company is not considered an initial investment for the creation of a new economic activity;