EU: Italy has sold a 1.4 billion euro stake in oil group Eni

The Italian government has sold a stake worth 1.4 billion euros in the oil group Eni, in an attempt to reduce a huge public debt, reports Bloomberg, quoted by Agerpres.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s administration completed on Wednesday the placement of a 2.8% stake in the oil group Eni via an accelerated book building process, according to the terms of the offer consulted by Bloomberg. At the end of the transaction, the Italian Treasury will hold approximately 2% of Eni’s shares, while the state bank Cassa Depositi e Prestiti SpA will hold a 28% stake.

According to Bloomberg, Italy offered approximately 92 million Eni shares, at a price of 14.855 euros each, a discount of 1.7% compared to the quotation recorded by Eni’s securities at the close of the previous meeting. UBS, Goldman Sachs and Jefferies acted as intermediaries.

The authorities in Rome are currently working on a plan that provides for the sale, until 2026, of some stakes, worth approximately 20 billion euros, in a number of companies, including the bank Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA and the the postal operator Poste Italiane SpA. The resulting sums would be used to reduce the public debt, which at the end of last year stood at 137% of GDP.

The Eni oil group, a company with a market value of approximately 49 billion euros, has expanded its activities in the field of natural gas production and renewable energies in recent years.