Italgas shares rose in the morning, gaining more than 1% (more than the Ftse Mib) following the news of the closing of the operation for the acquisition of the methane network in Greece. The Greek infrastructure had long been in the sights of the company led by Paolo Gallo, but now the "conquest" of Athens is official: Italgas, controlled by Cassa Depositi Prestiti (with 26% of the capital), has therefore been selected for the sale of the Greek company Depa Infrastructure, which currently manages the local network and the distribution of natural gas. The operation has a value of approximately 700 million euro and saw the satisfied comment of the CEO Gallo: "Italgas is the ideal partner to support the Greek government in the development of an energy infrastructure that will allow the country to proceed with the decarbonisation plan of the economy”, said the manager at the helm of Italgas since 2016, and who a few months ago presented a particularly ambitious new strategic plan, with investments of almost 8 billion including the acquisition in Greece.
Italgas thus joins Snam and Ferrovie dello Stato, also recently protagonists of operations with Greece, taking advantage of the privatization sheet to which Athens is in fact forced to settle its debt with the international community, as requested by the inflexible troika . After resistance from the left-wing government led by Alexis Tsipras, the current centre-right executive is proceeding faster and Italy is establishing itself as one of the main partners in these operations. Fs obtained the tender for the railway network, while Snam acquired 66% of Desfa, the operator of the national gas network. The Czech group Eph (which in Italy took over some thermoelectric plants from the German utility E.on) competed for victory with Italgas until the end, the only one remaining together with Italgas even after the extension of the tender from March to July.
