Edison's board of directors, scheduled for December 21, is just a few days away, and the Italian shareholders do not seem willing to review their opposition to the company's recapitalization plan.
The reorganization of Edison ensured that Delmi, a minority shareholder, retained veto power. This element constitutes the main source of conflict between the Italian utilities, A2A and Iren, and EDF to sanction the conclusion of the very long negotiations still in progress. Another breaking point is represented by the issue of Edipower's debt, destined to be split between the various shares: Edison, A2A and Iren. The settlement of the dispute was entrusted to the advisor Duff & Phelps who will have to express himself on how to divide the debt of the various structures that make up Edipower.
The French want A2A and Iren to bear the approximately 800 million euro of debt compared to the 1,1 billion of all Edipower for the transfer of the two hydroelectric plants of Mese and Udine. According to the transalpines, these would be the plants with the best health and in need of less economic effort. The Italians, on the other hand, do not want to invest more than 400 million. “You cannot sell off 6.000 MW to a foreign player. It seems to me that the French have pulled the string a bit and have exaggerated. This confrontation could backfire on him”, explains an Italian source interviewed by Reuters. “The thesis that two approximately 650 MW power plants should bear almost all of Edipower's debt does not hold up. Otherwise, at this point, we might as well buy the whole company".
This morning, however, an important novelty emerged. Minister Corrado Passera is said to have taken over the Edison dossier which divides the Italian shareholders led by A2A and the French ones of EdF. This was revealed this morning by the MF newspaper which quotes sources close to the dossier and hypothesizes a government plan (but in compliance with the limits imposed on the government in similar cases) to keep Edipower, a company owned by Edison and A2A, in wholly Italian hands.
