I appreciate you letting me know that Italys has added yet another strong and capable player.
March 9 (Reuters) – The largest regional power utility in Italy, A2A (A2.MI), announced on Saturday that it has signed a 1.22-billion euro ($1.3 billion) agreement with utility Enel (ENEI.MI), opening a new tab subsidiary called e-distribuzione to improve the Lombardy region’s electricity distribution networks.
As per the agreement, e-distribuzione will give its electricity distribution assets in the provinces of Milan and Valtrompia to a newly established company, to which A2A will own 90% of the shares.
A2A said in a statement that following the sale, it will also sign a shareholders’ agreement with e-distribuzione for call and put options on the remaining 10% stake.
In an area of Lombardy where the group is already active in the electrical distribution sector, the deal will increase the number of A2A’s installed electrical point of deliveries in 2024 by approximately 70%, from about 1.3 million in 2023 to about 2.1 million, the company said.
The largest utility in the nation, Enel, stated in a separate statement that the deal is anticipated to have a positive impact on the group’s 2024 reported net income of approximately 1 billion euros as well as its consolidated net debt of approximately 1.2 billion euros.
The Italian government, which is Enel’s single largest shareholder, decided to remove the company’s former CEO, Francesco Starace, in part because of growing indebtedness.
In order to assess the potential transfer of specific electricity distribution networks owned by the A2A Group outside of the provinces of Milan and Brescia to e-distribuzione, A2A and e-distribuzione have also signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding.
According to Enel, the transaction complies with the financial goals outlined in its strategic plan for 2024–2026. Enel plans to spend 35.8 billion euros on gross capital expenditures by the year 2026.
According to A2A, the agreement will enable it to support decarbonization goals and make larger investments in the electricity distribution network, totaling approximately 1.4 billion euros by 2035.
