Salini Impregilo’s plan to consolidate and strengthen Italy’s construction industry has been approved by Salini Costruttori, the firm’s main shareholder, Italian state bank CDP Equity and three other unnamed Italian banks.
The scheme, which is known as "Project Italy", will be funded with €600m raised from sales of Salini Impregilo shares, €250m from CDP Equity, €150m from the three banks and €50m from Salini Costruttori. A further €150m will be raised in shares, with the sale underwritten by "joint global coordinators".
The plan will include Salini Impregilo’s takeover of Italian rival Astaldi, a move that has been under discussion since October last year, and follows a €225m rescue deal proposed in March.
In a press release, Salini Impregilo says Project Italy will allow €36bn of stalled domestic schemes to restart and will safeguard new developments over the next three years.
Salini Impregilo, which is Italy’s largest construction group, hopes these moves will provide some relief to the country’s troubled construction sector, which is worth 8% of national GDP according to the Italian National Institute of Statistics. It is also aimed at improving its own bidding strategy and reducing risk in schemes that are under way.
The 15-strong board of directors for Project Italy will include five members from CDP Equity, including an independent chairman who will be subject to approval from Salini Costruttori.
Image: Construction in Italy (Umbertoleporini/Dreamstime)
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Salini Impreglio should consider important new projects such as building the Messina Strait Bridge. That project would vastly improve the economic viability of both Sicily and southern Italy in general. Such a bridge would quicken the speed and lower the cost of the entry of Asian goods into Central Europe from Suez as well as revitalizing Sicily itself. Also, the Messina Bridge project would garner EU and international financial support.