An offer on the table, that of the Belgian group Bekaert, another possible one on the way. According to Radiocor, this is the state of the Pirelli Steelcord dossier, the cord used in the manufacture of tires for which the Bicocca group intends to proceed with a sale or in any case with a partnership. After the collection of the first expressions of interest and the subsequent dataroom, Pirelli is working on the offer presented by the Belgian group specialized in steel wire even if it is possible that, in the short term, this proposal will be compared with an alternative being prepared by of another industrial player.
For the steelcord business, the Korean Hyosung had come forward in recent months but there are no indications that the Asians are still in the game. The presence of two potential buyers for the cord business is also confirmed by a report today by Equita analysts according to which, on the occasion of a recent meeting, Pirelli's management would have specified that they were awaiting 1-2 offers and be able to make a decision in the coming weeks.
According to financial sources, the valuations that emerged during the procedure for the cord are less than 250 million for an activity – carried out in five plants in Italy, Turkey, Romania, China and Brazil – which reaches an ebitda of around 50 million. These assessments, the sources say, would not be considered fully satisfactory by Pirelli which, as already officially declared, therefore intends to think calmly about the opportunity to proceed with the disposal. It is possible that the point can be made by the end of the year. On the occasion of the presentation of the industrial plan in London, last November 6, the president and CEO Marco Tronchetti Provera - who received the mandate from the board of directors to deepen the negotiations in view of a conclusion - he underlined the non-urgency of selling the steelcord for Pirelli and that the operation would be concluded only in the presence of the right conditions to do so.
