Finally came the great, not a little tormented peace of Christmas. In fact, when the markets opened, the “agreement in principle” between EDF and the Italian shareholders for the division of the assets of Foro Buonaparte. Edf will acquire 50% of Transalpina d'Energia (safe of 61,3% of Edison), controlled by Delmi, the holding company of the Italian shareholders, at a price based on an estimate of the value of Edison shares at 0,84 euros, slightly above last Friday's quotation (0,83 EUR).
In parallel, Delmi will acquire the 50% of Edipower held by Edison and the 20% held by the Swiss Alpiq respectively for 600 and 200 million, thus rising to 70% of the former genco. The remaining 30% of the company will be held 20% by A2A and 10% by Iren.
As the news spread, Edison lost 1,2% on the Stock Exchange, while A2A recorded an increase of 1.63%, followed by Iren +1,30%. The agreement, reached with the active collaboration of the minister Corrado Passera, provides moreover that the Consob give the green light toResidual takeover bid at a price that does not exceed €0,84 per share. Therefore speculative interest in the stock fades, which explains the negative reaction of Piazza Affari. At this point, it will be interesting to verify the impact of the agreement on the accounts of tassara.
Romain Zaleski's company, exposed for more than 3 billion to a banking syndicate headed by Banca Intesa, has holds 10% of Edison at 1,49 euros per share. Hence the problems of President Pietro Modiano. If Tassara adheres to the takeover bid, one must be entered in the budget capital loss of at least 350 million yes, a book value of 777,2 million. The alternative, that is not to give in to the takeover bid, is only theoretical.
Not only Tassara has undertaken to sell the shares in the portfolio to recover the debt exposure by 2013, but the strategic value of the Edison package, now 80% in the hands of Edf, has vanished. It's easy to foresee a final tightening around the balance of the financial company which can only hope for a sale at good conditions of the Polish bank, even if these days even in Warsaw there are more sellers than banks interested in buying.
Meanwhile, the market is already reckoning with a view to the next super utility in the North. The project advocated, among others, by Passera foresees the merger between A2A, EdiPower and Iren to create a large energy utility which Mediobanca should collaborate.
