Greenfield foreign direct investment is commonly regarded as a strategic factor for the economic growth of a country. Unfortunately, Italy has experienced a significant decline over time of greenfield initiatives by multinational enterprises. This paper offers a preliminary descriptive analysis of trends and features of greenfield FDIs and relevant investors in the Italian industry during the 1998-2012 period. The paper benefits from unpublished information provided by the Reprint database developed at the Politecnico di Milano.