Aspi, Toto goes to the rescue of Atlantia against Cdp?
Does the Toto group that is a candidate to take over Autostrade per l'Italia (Aspi) from Atlantia in place of Cassa Depositi e Prestiti have the right financial size? And what will happen to the contention with Anas? Facts, numbers, indiscretions and unknowns, while the indemnity between Atlantia and Cdp is stalled
Toto Holding which sent a letter to Atlantia on 14 September, with the relative expression of interest, giving the willingness to take over the Atlantia share package in Aspi. The letter is signed by the CEO, Lino Bergonzi. The operation is personally supervised by Riccardo Toto, who has met with Atlantia's top management in recent weeks.
This is what Il Sole 24 Ore writes today.
The Toto Holding group – active in the construction sector and also in motorway concessionaires – therefore steps forward for Autostrade per l'Italia.
After Atlantia's decision to start a "dual track" to separate from the subsidiary Aspi and waiting to know what Cdp's reaction will be to the letter sent yesterday, potential buyers interested in the 88% stake in the infrastructure holding are moving; an alternative to the prospect desired by the government for a motorway concessionaire controlled by Cassa Depositi e Prestiti.
But does the Toto group have the financial capacity to take control and guide Autostrade per l'Italia?
This is what insiders and ministries are asking themselves in these hours considering also the very low numbers of the group of the entrepreneurial family of the same name.
In fact, Toto Holding has a value of production of 378 million euros ( year 2019 ) and a negative net result of over 23 million euros.
Given the size of the operation (an evaluation of 11 billion euros), Toto Holding will have to look for at least one financial ally, added Il Sole 24 Ore: "Natural candidate is the US fund Apollo, with which Toto Holding has already entered into a alliance in the renewable energy sector, an area where Toto conducted a series of transactions with capital gains of a few hundred million. At the beginning of September, Renexia spa, a company active in renewable energies headed by Toto Holding, closed a $ 265 million US operation with Apollo. The deal included an investment by Apollo Infrastructure of up to $ 265 million in Renexia's US subsidiary, US Wind. Now the alliance could therefore be extended to another sector, precisely the motorway sector where Toto is already well present in Italy with the A24 and A25 ".
But there are other unknowns. For example, the Toto group has a large and tangled dispute with Anas (controlled by the Ferrovie group). And is the Toto group willing to take over the control of Aspi without any indemnity?
Indemnity is precisely one of the knots – perhaps the main one – to be resolved in the still stalled negotiation between Atlantia and Cassa Depositi e Prestiti.
So much so that the negotiations between Atlantia and Cdp on the reorganization of Autostrade per l'Italia would be one step away from the definitive break.
The holding company that controls the concessionaire has in fact replied to Cassa confirming that it intends to go straight on the path started for the disposal of the stake in the concessionaire. A move with which
Atlantia effectively closes the deal, according to sources close to CDP, explaining that by excluding the indemnity to the market on the damages of Genoa, Cassa cannot proceed.
Atlantia's move came in the evening. A short letter with which the company confirms to Cassa that "following the resolutions passed yesterday by our board of directors", the "dual track process" was launched today, "in which we hope you want to participate".
The letter is confident that the "difficulties" that emerged in the discussions can be overcome and it is anticipated that the dual track process has the deadline for the presentation of non-binding offers on 16 December.
However, a communication that does not go in the direction desired by the group chaired by Giovanni Gorno Tempini and led by the CEO, Fabrizio Palermo: the confirmation of the desire to go ahead with the road started, demonstrates that the commitments undertaken by the two CEOs have been completely disregarded of Atlantia and Aspi on 14 July, Ansa wrote yesterday, highlighting in particular that, by rejecting the request for guarantees for the damage caused by the collapse of the Genoa Bridge (the so-called indemnity), Atlantia itself removes a fundamental condition of market, mandatory for any market investor, which would make it impossible to approve the operation of the Board of Directors.
Atlantia therefore, it is pointed out, thus effectively closes any possibility of continuing the negotiations on Aspi. Cdp, added Ansa , in these two months has carried out a negotiating table aimed at executing a market operation and the willingness to find solutions of reasonable compromise and market has been maximum.
Two days ago, the letter in which Cassa invited the company to reconsider its position and allowing seven days of time. A letter coinciding with the board of directors of the holding which, carrying out the process announced at the beginning of August, started the 'double track' (block sale of 88% or demerger) to get to the disposal of the holding and set the October 30 for the shareholders' vote.
Now the word must necessarily pass to the Government, which is the creator of the CDP solution for Aspi, decided in the CDM of 14 July .
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/smartcity/aspi-toto-va-in-soccorso-di-atlantia-contro-cdp/ on Sat, 26 Sep 2020 09:12:55 +0000.