Terna SpA, Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane SpA and Rete Ferroviaria Italiana SpA today signed a purchase and sale agreement for the acquisition by Terna of the entire share capital of S.EL.F., a wholly owned subsidiary of Società Elettrica Ferroviaria Srl by FS active in the electricity transmission sector.
The perimeter of the operation includes:
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7.510 km of high and very high voltage power lines and 350 electrical stations which will be included in the National Electricity Transmission Grid following the completion of the transaction.
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869 km of high and very high voltage power lines already part of the NTG.
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a contract for the passage of the optical fiber owned by BasicTel SpA
The consideration agreed for the sale is equal to 757 million euros. Terna will finance the operation using credit lines and liquidity already available.
The integration of the perimeter of Società Elettrica Ferroviaria, for a total of 8.379 km, will lead to an increase of approximately 13% in the kilometers of lines owned and managed by Terna – which with 63.900 km of network managed is already the first independent operator in the 'Europe – and is part of the process of unification and expansion of the NTG, which has already produced and will continue to generate substantial benefits for Italian businesses and households.
The transaction does not envisage the transfer of personnel and financial liabilities eit will have positive impacts on the Terna group's profits starting from the second year of consolidation of the FS electricity grid.
“We had identified an opportunity for Terna and for the entire Italian electricity system – commented Matteo Del Fante, Terna's CEO – Therefore we are very satisfied to have concluded such a complex industrial operation within the timescales that we had set ourselves and that we had announced. For us and for the country, this is an important milestone, since this acquisition will create a single transmission network, which will avoid duplication and allow for greater safety, efficiency and savings to be guaranteed. Furthermore, from an international point of view, Terna will now be able to count on even greater strength in the grid integration process, both in Europe andin the Mediterranean”
“I thank the previous board of directors – declared the president of FS Gioia Ghezzi – for the valuable work done in view of the definition of this important operation. The new Board of Directors is pleased to begin its mandate with this agreement with Terna which allows the Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane Group to focus on its core business".
“We are proud – commented the CEO of Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane Renato Mazzoncini – to have carried out an industrial operation that we can consider systemic, as envisaged by the 2015 Stability Law. Indeed, FS obtains resources to be allocated to investments in infrastructure railways and to enhance public transport, while assets that extend and strengthen the national electricity grid go to Terna".
