Fincantieri signed the agreement for the acquisition of 66,66% of the capital of Stx France, Based in Saint-Nazaire. The company communicates it in a note. The agreement provides for a purchase price of 79,5 million euros for the portion involved in the transaction, which the company will pay using available financial resources. The closing will be subject to the usual conditions for this type of transaction. The operation will lead to the birth of the first European operator in the sector, with a market share of more than 55 percent.
Meanwhile, they continue the negotiations between Fincantieri and the French state to finalize the governance arrangements between the future shareholders of Stx France. The agreement envisages that the shipbuilder DCNS, which will own 12%, and some banking foundations, recipients of minority shares, will also enter the capital of Stx, including the Fondazione CR Trieste which will take over 5-6 percent.
Any changes to Fincantieri's 2016-2020 Business Plan will be assessed and communicated in the light of the finalization of the agreements between the future shareholders of STX France. Fincantieri is assisted by BNP Paribas as financial advisor.
In the wake of the news of the green light for the acquisition, the stock of Fincantieri on the Stock Exchange one hour after the opening, it gained 2,4%, to 0,893 euros, after coming close to an increase of 6%.
I French trade unions are divided: Fo (Force ouvrière) and Cgt (Confédération générale du travail) have given an unfavorable opinion on the acquisition by the Italian group, while Cfdt (Confédération française démocratique du travail) and the Cfe-Cgc (Confédération Générale des Cadres) have taken note of this transfer. The first two express the majority of votes within the trade union body (5 out of 9), but their opinion is not binding.
Today in Trieste it took place the Fincantieri shareholders' meeting, which approved the 2016 financial statements and the share buyback plan. The meeting also appointed the new Board of Statutory Auditors, with Gianluca Ferrero as Chairman, and the 2016-2018 Performance Share Plan. In this regard, the issuance of a maximum of 50.000.000 ordinary shares with no par value was also authorised, having the same characteristics as the outstanding ordinary shares, to service the 2016-2018 Performance Share Plan, to be attributed to the management of the Company and/ or its subsidiaries. Together with the approval of the financial statements, the proposal of the board of directors to allocate approximately 933 thousand euros of the year's profit to the legal reserve and the remaining 17,74 million euros to the extraordinary reserve was accepted.
