Factbox: State lending giant CDP towers over Italy Inc
27/05/2021 17:21
May 27 (Reuters) - A change of guard at Italy's powerful
Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) has put the 170-year-old
state-backed lender and investor under the political and public
spotlight.
Dario Scannapieco, a former adviser to Prime Minister Mario
Draghi, will be the new head of CDP, replacing current CEO
Fabrizio Palermo. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N2NE1VZ
CDP invests savings made by Italians through the national
post office network Poste Italiane PST.MI but its debt is not
booked as part of Italy's mammoth public debt pile.
Here is an overview of CDP's current investments and
projects under development for the institution controlled by
Italy's treasury:
EQUITY FUND FOR COVID-HIT COMPANIES
CDP launched a 40-billion-euro ($49 billion) equity fund
this week that is tasked with helping businesses weakened by the
COVID-19 pandemic.
The fund will be financed by the Treasury via specifically
issued sovereign bonds, and managed by CDP. Sources told Reuters
that around 100 companies have already expressed a potential
interest in tapping the fund. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N2NC598
MOTORWAYS
Next week, investors in Italian infrastructure group
Atlantia's ATL.MI will decide whether to accept an offer
presented by a consortium led by CDP to buy an 80% stake in
motorway unit Autostrade per l'Italia.
If the 8-billion-euro deal goes through, CDP will end up
with a controlling stake in Autostrade, and more than 3,000 km
of highways will effectively return to state control. An
agreement would also draw a line under a political dispute
triggered by the deadly 2018 Genoa bridge collapse.
DIGITAL PAYMENTS
Later this year CDP will end up with a 17% stake in one of
Europe's leading payments group, created through the merger of
Nexi NEXII.MI , smaller rival SIA and Nets.
ENERGY
The state lender plays a key role in Italy's energy sector
with controlling stakes in Italy's power and gas transport grids
Terna TRN.MI and Snam SRG.MI . It also calls the shots at
energy major Eni ENI.MI , controls energy services group Saipem
SPMI.MI and is key shareholder in the country's biggest gas
distributor, Italgas IG.MI .
TELECOMS AND BROADBAND
CDP has built a 10% stake in former phone monopoly Telecom
Italia TLIT.MI to offset the influence of French media group
Vivendi VIV.PA , which is the largest shareholder in a company
deemed strategic.
The state investor, which owns a 50% stake in broadband
infrastructure operator Open Fiber, is set to buy an additional
10% stake later this year.
STOCK MARKETS
CDP is one of the leading shareholders in French stock
market operator Euronext ENX.PA and a key investor in Milan's
bourse group, which manages the Italian stock market and
government bond platform MTS.
CDP teamed up with Euronext and Italy's biggest bank Intesa
Sanpaolo ISP.MI to buy Borsa Italiana from the London Stock
Exchange in a 4.3-billion-euro deal completed last month.
With nearly 8% of Euronext, CDP has the same stake as its
French counterpart Caisse des Depots.
CONSTRUCTION
CDP joined forces with construction company Webuild WBD.MI
to orchestrate a joint rescue of smaller rival Astaldi and
revive the country's sickly construction industry. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N2EO4Z4
(Reporting by Francesca Landini, Stephen Jewkes, Giuseppe Fonte
and Elvira Pollina; Editing by Pravin Char)
((francesca.landini@thomsonreuters.com; +39 02 66129437;
Reuters Messaging: reutersitaly.thomsonreuters@reuters.net))