It continues in Piazza Affari the fall on the stock market of Pirelli. After -2,2% on Monday and -3,5% recorded yesterday, today at the end of the morning the Bicocca stock dropped another two percentage points (at 11,12 euros), the worst fall of the entire Ftse Mib . Meanwhile, the Tar of Lazio he announced that he had rejected Lauro 61's appeal against Consob's decision to raise the price of the takeover bid on Camfin (Pirelli's controlling shareholder with 26,71% of the capital) from 0,80 to 0,83 euro. The Administrative Court also rejected the appeal of the Antares funds, which asked for the price of the takeover bid to be raised to 0,99 euros.
THE LAURO OPERATION 61
Lauro 61 was the vehicle formed by Marco Tronchetti Provera (through Nuove Partecipazioni, controlling shareholder of the newco with 54,8% of the capital) together with the private equity fund Clessidra (23,8%) and the two major Italian banks, Intesa Sanpaolo and Unicredit (both 10,7%) to purchase the shares of the Malacalza family in the capital of Camfin (equal to 12,37%), in view of the subsequent total takeover bid aimed at the delisting of the shares. Consob had chosen to intervene on the offer claiming that it had identified a hidden price agreement between the Malacalza sellers and the Lauro 61 buyers.
THE NEW AGREEMENT WITH ROSNEFT
Then came the twist from Russia on Monday. The partners i Lauro 61/Camfin have forged an iron axis with Rosneft, the Moscow energy giant already present in Saras. According to the terms of the agreement, the helm of Bicocca will remain in the hands of Tronchetti Provera, but the 26,71% package of Pirelli shares held today by Lauro 61/Camfin will enter a new corporate body: half of the capital of this newco will go to Rosneft, which will invest around 500 million euros, while the other half will go to another vehicle, which will once again include Nuove Partecipazioni (with 80%), Intesa and Unicredit (both with 10%). The two banks had invested less than 120 million in Lauro-Camfin and will now see their shares valued at approximately 200 million: they will therefore reinvest around fifty million in the new operation. Clessidra, on the other hand, will definitely leave the scene.
THE REACTION OF THE MARKETS
After the announcement of the agreement, which values Pirelli shares at 12 euros, the Bicocca stock began to fall on the stock market. It is the confirmation that the financial operators believe that the deal has a strategic value and, consequently, will bring down the speculative appeal on the Pirelli stock, the subject of various rumors about a possible takeover bid in recent months.
While waiting for this impact to wear off, the brokers are once again assessing Pirelli's fundamentals, including the business prospects in Russia in their assessments. According to Exane Bnp Paribas, the 4,5% annual growth of the Russian car parc in the decade 2003-2013 now offers good support for the tire market and Bicocca could hit the sales and margin targets for 2015, bringing the Russian accounts accounting for 3% of the 2016 Ebit (36 million out of a consolidated estimated at almost 1,2 billion) and 7% of the 2018 Ebit (80 million out of 1,4 billion).
The announcement of the agreement with Rosneft, according to Exane, took place at a particularly negative moment given the strong political tensions linked to the crisis with Ukraine, but "after the situation stabilizes, the market will reevaluate this agreement and start sell the potential benefits of a partnership with Rosneft in Russia”.
