What happens between the government, Leonardo and Fincantieri?
Minister Giorgetti relaunches the theme of an Italian military pole, Profumo (Leonardo) excludes a possible aggregation with Fincantieri, the new Fincantieri management does not talk about the issue unlike some financial analysts … Facts and insights
Like a summer catchphrase, the theme of a merger between Leonardo (formerly Finmeccanica) and Fincantieri is recurring .
And when the Minister of Economic Development Giancarlo Giorgetti, during a visit to Fincantieri, spoke of the hypothesis of "an Italian military pole", the Leonardo-Fincantieri merger was immediately thought of.
The government is the main shareholder of both Leonardo (30% owned by Mef) and Fincantieri (controlled by Cdp Industria with 71.32%).
But to respond indirectly to Giorgetti's words was thought by Leonardo's administrator himself, Alessandro Profumo.
The number one of the former Finmeccanica does not see an aggregation with Fincantieri possible. “It would seem to me a wrong use of time”, stressed Profumo today in an interview with La Repubblica about a possible merger with the shipbuilding group. Leonardo's CEO believes that there are no synergies between the two groups.
Furthermore, “the market would not appreciate a merger between Leonardo and Fincantieri, for more than one reason according to Banca Akros” notes MF / Milano Finance .
And in fact Leonardo shares (+ 0.9%) have been among the best in Piazza Affari since this morning, in contrast to the negative sign of the Ftse Mib (-0.8%). "The support for the stock comes, according to the investment houses, both from the new orders for helicopters and from the confirmation by the CEO Alessandro Profumo that the aggregation with Fincantieri is not on the agenda because there are no significant synergies" he remarks Radiocor .
All the details.
THE WORDS OF GIORGETTI
Defense demand in Europe is growing and Italy must be ready. The minister for economic development, Giancarlo Giorgetti, said yesterday on the sidelines of the visit to the Fincantieri plant in Monfalcone, answering a question on the Fincantieri-Leonardo axis for the construction of an all-Italian defense pole. According to the minister, the issue is currently being discussed with colleagues from Defense, Lorenzo Guerini, and from the Economy, Daniele Franco. “It would be naive to think that an Italian military pole could be competitive on its own, but it is clear that when we go to discuss the European defense industry we must present ourselves to the best of our ability and play our cards. We have excellence, quality and competence, we definitely have to do it, ”said Giorgetti. "The evolution of defense demand in Europe will be particularly conspicuous and accelerated in the coming years and we must rise to the occasion".
THE INTERVIEW OF PERFUME
But the hypothesis of an aggregation with Fincantieri, the CEO Leonardo, who does not see synergies between the aerospace and defense group and the shipbuilder Fincantieri, excludes.
In the interview with La Repubblica , Profumo defends the project of the great poles of the European defense industry "in order to better spend the citizens' money". And it nominates Leonardo as leader for safety electronics. But he takes sides against the aggregation with Fincantieri. “It must be said that the collaboration between the two companies has always existed. I am also convinced that it needs to be strengthened, for example when we go looking for orders abroad we can move in an even more coordinated way. We do the electronic part, they do the naval part. We must continue to work together: the Navy, in this case, is the 'customer' and this obliges us to be coordinated and synchronized ”, highlights the CEO of Leonardo.
Asked about the possibility that someone is working on the aggregation between the two groups, Profumo replies: “Frankly, it would seem to me a wrong use of time. Let's take Fincantieri: they build ships for the civil and military sectors. There are synergies between them. While it does not seem to me that there are between those who make defense electronics and those who build hulls. Focusing on mutual peculiarities, in terms of the country system, seems to me the best solution to enhance the respective skills also in relation to the final customer ".
THE FIRST WORDS OF THE NEW CEO OF FINCANTIERI
And the merger dossier between the two national giants is not even on the horizon of the new CEO of Fincantieri Pierroberto Folgiero, who took over from Giuseppe Bono a few days ago.
First shipbuilding and then infrastructure. For Folgiero, attention in the near future will be concentrated on the core business and only subsequently on other projects, starting with the reconstruction of the Morandi bridge which sees it as the protagonist in the consortium with Salini Impregilo and Italferr, reports AgenziaNova . On the sidelines of this morning's visit by the Minister for Economic Development, Giancarlo Giorgetti, to the Monfalcone plant, Folgiero said he was convinced that “the strength of a company with 250 years of history lies in its core business. Adjacencies must be developed when the core business gives you a distinctive competence. If there is an opportunity to diversify on something lateral, but adjacent to our core business, it is growth opportunities that must be pursued ".
So no hypothesis of aggregation with the other national defense champion on the table of the new CEO of Fincantieri.
THE REPORTS OF THE ANALYSTS
Finally, analysts are also taking sides against the Leonardo-Fincantieri merger hypothesis, suggesting that the market would not appreciate.
“Profumo's statements relating to Fincantieri reaffirm what has been said in the past for which we believe it remains an unlikely scenario even if political will weighs on decisions of this type”, commented Equita Sim.
“More clear Banca Akros – MF remarks – which does not believe that the financial market would appreciate a“ rapprochement ”between Leonardo and Fincantieri for more than one reason. First, a conglomerate penalized by a discount would arise; second, the assembly risks not having enough votes to approve the merger; third, cooperation can be improved without equity involvement. Fourth, a period of reflection for the new CEO of Fincantieri on the business model ".
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/economia/che-cosa-succede-fra-governo-leonardo-e-fincantieri/ on Tue, 24 May 2022 14:16:10 +0000.