Salini raises Impregilo stake
By Helen Wright16 February 2012
Privately-owned Italian contractor Salini has increased its stake in Italy's largest contractor, Impregilo, to 20.06%, after amassing a 15% stake at the start of the year.
"Salini reaffirms its strategic priority to build, over time, a leading European-based construction and concessionary group with the scale and expertise to compete in the global infrastructure sector," the company said.
Salini now owns just under 81 million shares in Impregilo, making its stake worth about €210 million. However, at the end of January, the company played down speculation that it was considering a possible buyout of Impregilo, stating instead that it was willing to pursue a co-operation agreement with the group.
"This additional investment confirms Salini's determination to pursue its industrial project to create value for all Impregilo's shareholders," Salini said following the latest increase in its stake in the construction company.
Investment consortium IGLI owns about 30% of Italian stock exchange-listed Impregilo, while McKinley Capital Management has a stake of over 2% and, aside from Salini's stake, the rest of the stock is free floating.
An amalgamation of Salini and Impregilo would create a Italian group with combined sales of over €3.2 billion - by far the largest contractor in Italy.
Salini Construttori came in at number 74 in the latest CE-100 list of Europe's top contractors, with a turnover of around €1.1 billion. Impregilo was at number 46, with sales of €2.06 billion. Together, they would reach number 29 in the CE-100 list of Europe's top contractors.
