The offers to win Sorgenia have arrived. It will be a four-way match between A2A-Eph, F2i, Iren and Contourglobal. According to sources, the position of F2i would be interesting: the infrastructure fund, despite having apparently slipped away in recent weeks, would have broken the hesitation by moving together with Asterion Capital Partners.
According to various observers, it would have improved the offer already finalized in November, presenting Sorgenia's shareholder banks with a more attractive proposal both from an industrial point of view with the contribution of some wind and biomass plants and from a financial point of view. “We worked on the Sorgenia dossier for a long time. Then came the operation in Spain, very important for us since it allows us to leap in quality. Once concluded, it was pointed out to us that in any case for Sorgenia we had set up an important industrial plan, which would not only create value for shareholders but would be significant for the country system, a sort of final seal to the bridge-operation of the banks" , commented Renato Ravanelli, managing director of F2i.
“We are focusing on three factors: the industrial relaunch of Sorgenia, the maintenance of its independence and Italian control of strategic assets for the market. Sorgenia will have to be the leader in the energy transition process, and it has all the credentials to do so, being able to develop renewable energies together with the technology that supports them, i.e. gas-fired combined cycles. If we are the winners, we will immediately contribute another 500 megawatts between the Veronagest wind power and biomass, as a starting point. Then we are able to provide all the financial support that will be needed for future development, with opportunities that can range on the foreign front. We have no financial constraints. F2i has recently won the international tender for the management of the 500 million ANIA fund. And then at the beginning of 2020 we will start with a fifth round of harvesting, of a larger size”, concluded Ravanelli.
It is among these four competitors that the finalists will be selected, even if further appearances in the running are not excluded, such as the one between Iren and Contourglobal, in the final phase of the match. Overall, the dossier is worth around 1 billion euros including debts and the offers would have remained close to this value. Now it is up to them to identify the most satisfactory proposal in economic and strategic terms, without forgetting the role played by Sorgenia in the national energy arena.
From the match instead, both Acea and the Germans of Rwe-E.On decided to withdraw in the final stages. Their choice was influenced by the node of Tirreno Power, the former genco Enel of which Sorgenia controls 50%, while the other 50% belongs to the French of Engie of which some former managers, for the Vado Ligure coal plant, are currently on trial for environmental disaster. This is a proceeding which, should a conviction be issued, could also see a significant issue of compensation for damages for the company in the civil court. In any case, it is presumable that even the subjects remaining in the competition asked for sufficient guarantees on this front.
