That pushes for new acquisitions in Toscana e Umbria. The project has already obtained the support of analysts (Equita, Intermonte and Mediobanca) who consider the expansion compatible with maintaining the dividend policy. And now it could get the fuel it needs to get going if the new Stability Law, recently approved, delivers on its promise of adequate consolidation incentives for local public utility companies. The goal, stated several times by Matteo Renzi, is in fact to go down “from 8000 to 1000” companies.
Le aggregations between utilities they are therefore the necessary background from which to start and just a few days ago the new one CEO of Acea Alberto Irace, during the conference organized in Rome by Astrid, he sent a clear message to Ignazio Marino, owner of 51% of the capital as mayor of Rome: "It is uneconomical to think that every mayor can manage the company that provides services to his own territory ”. As if to say that the time is ripe to consider a partial transfer of sovereignty.
Il Capitol Hill so far it has resisted the idea of facilitating, with a dilution of the capital held, the consolidation of other local realities in Acea. It's not said that he can't review his position if the government puts adequate incentives on the table. But Irace's message was also addressed to other territorial areas. If water is Acea's primary expansion sector, waste and electricity are also observed with great interest by management. And you look around Siena, Arezzo and Prato where the Roman utility could integrate Extract.
Acea has foreseen 2 billion investmenti in its 2014-2018 plan. Over half (1,3 billion) will be in the water sector where it is market leader nationwide with over 8,6 million citizens served, equal to 14,24% of the population. And it has a strong presence, as well as in Rome and Lazio, in Tuscany, Umbria and Campania. If, as it seems, Irace maintains a line of continuity with the growth objectives of the previous Gallo management, 800 million will be invested in Lazio to modernize and strengthen the network, the rest will go out. “Acea could seize interesting opportunities in Tuscany in the water sector, where it currently has minority stakes in 5 companies that it could quickly unify” in the event of favorable regulatory conditions from the Government, Intermonte claims in its latest report.
Out of 6 Optimum Territorial Areas (ATO), the group is already an industrial partner of the main four: Ato3 Florence, Ato6 Siena-Grosseto, Ato2 Pisa, Ato4 Arezzo – and reaches around 80% of the population served. The subsidiary Publiacqua Spa, manager of the Florentine water service, is the flagship of this presence in Tuscany. Lucca and Grosseto the areas not yet covered. The water management of Tuscany could therefore become one of the forerunners of the aggregation season if the new legislation promised by the government favors the unification process and above all management simplification, an aspect on which the Roman utility focuses a lot.
But it's not just water. Acea aims to grow in the sectors in which it is already present. But in waste might find on its way Ivy which has cards to play in Tuscany, both for its territorial proximity to Emilia Romagna and for its experience in the environmental cycle which allowed it to win the tender for the Florence waste-to-energy plant. In this field, an attempt to merge local businesses and then aim autonomously for listing on the Stock Exchange cannot be ruled out either.
The real game could instead be played on electricity and gas. In this case the prey is Estra which aims to become an unifying pole in Umbria, Marche and Abruzzo. It is a reality that is growing but is not yet large enough to compete with big players such as Hera or Acea. And it could fall into the net.
