REGGIO EMILIA (ITALPRESS) – Ireti, a wholly owned subsidiary of Iren, has finalized the acquisition of a 40 percent stake in Iren Acqua held by F2i Sgr through its funds. This was stated in a note. Iren Acqua is the company already 60 percent owned by Ireti, an Iren Group company that manages the integrated water service in 39 municipalities of the Genovese ATO, an area with more than 750,000 equivalent inhabitants served and with a network of about 2,750 km.The transaction allows Ireti to own 100 percent of the company and will allow the merger of Iren Acqua into Ireti itself, with an important rationalization of costs and greater operational effectiveness. In addition, from a financial point of view, the transaction will reduce the outlay for third-party dividends and increase the group’s net income.Iren Acqua has very positive financial ratios, with profitability above the industry average and a solid capital structure. The expected EBITDA at the end of 2024 is estimated to range between 110 and 120 million euros, and the estimated net financial position is between 180 and 200 million euros.The agreement for the acquisition of 40 percent of the company’s share capital provides for the payment of a portion of the price at the closing for 100 million euros and a residual portion of 182.5 million euros deferred over 4.25 years to which interest will be applied at a compound annual rate of 4.5 percent. This transaction is among the strategic options made financially viable by the hybrid bond issue, which allows the replacement of third-party equity with equity instruments. “The Iren Acqua transaction is strongly consistent with Iren’s industrial vision to grow in the networks,” says Luca Dal Fabbro, executive chairman of Iren, “and confirms the Group’s effectiveness in seizing inorganic growth opportunities, further strengthening the importance of regulated businesses. The acquisition has a strong industrial rationale for the value it holds and the great potential of the water sector nationwide given the strong need for infrastructure investments. This transaction will reduce the outlay for third-party dividends and increase group net income. The transaction also has positive economic/financial impacts related to the lower cost of Group debt compared to dividends paid to the minority shareholder and increased earnings per share to the benefit of our shareholders.””Today we have further strengthened Iren’s strategic role in the water cycle, a sector in which we are among the leading operators at the national level, confirming the importance of the management of water and energy networks in the Group’s strategy,” says Gianluca Bufo, CEO of Iren. “The transaction will allow us to concentrate the activities in the water cycle in the Genoa area in a single company, extracting important synergies from corporate rationalization and integrated territorial management of network services in a basin served by Iren Acqua of about 750,000 inhabitants. We will continue our development activities on the water cycle both through the implementation of an important investment plan and by seizing opportunities for inorganic growth. “Today we conclude a ten-year journey with a strategic operator such as F2i and open a new phase for Iren Acqua,” says Moris Ferretti, executive vice president of Iren, “which will allow us to make investments in new purification capacity and to reduce network losses. This will allow us to improve the quality of services offered to users strengthened by the skills and knowledge of the territory developed by our operating staff over the years.”
– Iren press office photo -(ITALPRESS).
