Salt the title of Italgas on the Stock Exchange, after the recent operations which saw the energy group expand its presence in the North, first in Piedmont, with the purchase of 15% of Reti Distribuzione from AEG Coop, and then, on Wednesday 3 June, with the award of the management of the gas service in the “Belluno” Territorial Area. This last tender will have a duration of 12 years, and will allow Italgas to increase the number of users served by approximately 40.000 units: in the Area headed by the Veneto provincial capital there are in fact 34 methane-served Municipalities, served by around 990 kilometers of networks, for a total of 47 end users and a RAB of over 43 million euros.
In the offer presented, Italgas has planned investments of around 135 million euros aimed at extending the networks - for over 300 km - towards areas not yet reached by the service, at the complete digitization of the existing infrastructures, at improving the quality and safety of the service and at energy efficiency interventions on over 60 public buildings. With the extension of the network, 17 new Municipalities will be supplied with methane.
“Considering that Italgas already owned 15% of the Belluno Atem, the operation will make it possible to increase Rab by approximately 52 million and above all to launch an investment plan of 135 million over the next 12 years. – underlines Equita – We estimate the additional Ebitda to be around 7-8 million with an implicit Ev/Ebitda multiple of less than 8 times”. “The assignment of the Atem Belluno to Italgas – he commented the managing director Paolo Gallo – is further confirmation of how the area tenders bring significant advantages to the territory, especially in such a difficult moment for the country”.
Last week Italgas had instead acquired, for 4,56 million euro, 15% of Reti Distribuzione from AEG Coop, a company active in the sale and distribution of natural gas based in Ivrea. Reti Distribuzione operates in the service of 49 municipalities for 32.000 redelivery points distributed mainly in Ivrea and neighboring areas. Since he formalized this operation, the Italgas stock has risen on the Stock Exchange from 4,7 euros per share to today's 5,2 euros, even if the gain slowed down at the end of the morning, compared to the opening of the session.
In the meantime, a communication from the Antitrust also arrived on Wednesday 3 June, which launched an investigation into Italgas to verify abusive conduct which, however, concerns another tender with respect to the two mentioned above, i.e. the one for the gas distribution in some municipalities in the province of Venice. The Authority wants to understand whether the company has abused its dominant position held as exclusive service concessionaire, in order to significantly inhibit or delay the envisaged competitive procedure for the assignment of the gas distribution service in the Venice area and surroundings. The investigation began following a report from the Municipality of Venice, according to which Italgas Reti refused to provide some updated information.
"Italgas - said a company spokesman - will provide the Antitrust with the necessary clarifications. In the past months, the company has provided the municipality of Venice with a large amount of documentation and is available to produce any additions that the municipality may require”.
