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Ardian becomes shareholder in Italy motorway company
Transactions - JUNE 6, 2017

Ardian becomes shareholder in Italy motorway company

by Jody Barhanovich

Ardian Infrastructure has signed an agreement with SIAS, Satap and Itinera to become a shareholder of Autovia Padana, the company that operates the A21 Piacenza-Cremona-Brescia motorway.

Until now, Autovia Padana was owned by Satap (70 percent), the company that manages the A4 Turin-Milan and A21 Turin-Piacenza motorways, and Itinera (30 percent), an international infrastructure company controlled by ASTM.

With this agreement, Ardian, through its Infrastructure Fund IV, a €2.65 billion ($2.89 billion) vehicle closed in January 2016, will acquire a 49 percent stake in the asset for approximately €80 million ($90 million), with both Satap and Itinera reducing their stakes in the share capital to 50.9 percent and 0.1 percent, respectively.

Under the agreement, ASTM Group and SIAS Group will retain control of Autovia Padana and will continue to consolidate their investment using the line-by-line consolidation method. It will enable Itinera to act as an EPC contractor for the program of investment and maintenance as forecasted in the economic and financial plan of the concession agreement.

Ardian’s investment remains subject to, among other things, the authorization of the Ministry of Infrastructures and Transports and to final approval of SIAS’s board of directors.

The deal will form the start of a strategic partnership between SIAS Group and Ardian, which already has an extensive presence in the Italian market and recognized the strategic and financial values of the group business model.

The purchase follows the recent sale of Aloe Energy, a solar PV developer and operator in France, to JPMorgan-backed Sonnedix. Ardian had created the platform alongside Debiopharm Investment and Aloem in 2014.

Ardian Infrastructure currently has $8 billion of assets under management.

This first investment represents the base to jointly develop new business initiatives in the infrastructure sector in Italy and around the world.

 

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